MINING SAFETY
Combatting explosive complacency
‘T
he explosion (or fire depending on which reports you believe) at Soma coal mine in Turkey, in which 302 miners lost
their lives, comes as a reminder to mining engineers, if any were needed, of the continued hazards in mining, particularly of coal. Turkey, it is reported, now has the unenviable distinction of the worst safety record in coal mining in terms of deaths per ton of coal mined. Even if the validity of this means of measurement can be questioned, it does demonstrate both the huge production, and safety improvements in China where largely under-reported explosions and fires have claimed many lives. A China government policy to close smaller, largely uncontrolled collieries in favour of more efficient, and more easily monitored, large mines may be paying off in safety terms. In recent years mining explosions with large loss of life have also
24 INTERNATIONAL MINING ENGINEER
occurred in Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and the US, so no one can afford to be complacent.
Tose disasters that have been
investigated independently have shown that the primary causes are dominated by failures of owners and management, sometimes with outside inspectors, to implement best practice in explosion prevention. Te often simple tecÚology, as well as known good practice, have been available for many years, and just require implementation and maintenance. Tere have been developments in such tecÚology, chiefly in gas monitoring, communications and for the preservation of life once an incident has occurred, but not offering the degree of safety improvement that good management could achieve. Basically an explosion requires the
three participants of fuel, oxygen and ignition to occur, and an enclosed space to promote the explosion.
The unprecedented Pike River coal mine series of explosions in 2010 in New Zealand killed 29 staff miners and contractors. No recovery has yet been managed
Vigilance is essential to prevent all possible mine explosions. Maurice Jones reports Wachsamkeit ist wichtig, gegen alle möglichen Minen Zündgefahren La vigilancia continua es esencial para prevenir todas las explosiones de minas
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