Research on Occupational Safety, Health Management and Risk Control Technology in Coal Mines

Correlational analysis of occupational accidents and the safety policies in the Chinese coal mining industry from 2008 to 2021

This study investigates the correlation between previous coal mine safety policies and accidents in China. Data on coal mine accidents and government regulatory information from 2008 to 2021 are collected. The characteristics of coal mine accidents are analyzed, and safety policy indexes are identified. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model is established to quantitatively analyze the correlation between accidents and safety policy. The study finds that safety policies have some impact on accident occurrence in coal mines. Although there has been a decrease in accidents and deaths over time, higher mortality rates are observed during periods of increased production intensity and on weekends. Gas accidents are the most common, followed by roof and flood accidents. The study concludes that national safety policies with wider coverage and a stronger system are effective in preventing accidents, but caution should be exercised to avoid reduced vigilance with decreasing death rates.

Worker Protection Scenarios for General Analytical Testing Facility under Several Infection Propagation Risks: Scoping Review, Epidemiological Model and ISO 31000

Infectious disease is a risk threating industrial operations and worker health. In gastrointestinal disease cases, outbreak is sporadic, and propagation is often terminated within certain populations, although cases in industrial sites are continuously reported. The ISO 31000 international standard for risk management, an epidemiological triad model, and a scoping review were the methods used to establish response procedures (scenarios) to protect workers from the risk of the propagation of a gastrointestinal disease. First, human reservoirs and transmission routes were identified as controllable risk sources based on a scoping review and the use of a triad model. Second, the possibility of fomite- or surface-mediated transmission appeared to be higher based on environmental characterization. Thus, the propagation could be suppressed using epidemiological measures categorized by reservoirs (workers) or transmission routes during a primary case occurrence. Next, using results of a matrix, a strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats analysis and a scoping review, the risk treatment option was determined as risk taking and sharing. According to epidemiology of gastrointestinal infections, systematic scenarios may ensure the efficacy of propagation control. Standardized procedures with practicality and applicability were established for categorized scenarios. This study converged ISO 31000 standards, an epidemiological model, and scoping review methods to construct a risk management scenario (non-pharmaceutical intervention) optimized for the unique characteristics of a specific occupational cluster.

Contributing effects of individual characteristics, behavioural and job-related factors on occurrence of mining-related injuries: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Occupational health and safety (OHS) is a complex system due to its three components, namely human, technological and organizational factors. The interplay between the three systems causes workplace accidents and, subsequently, injuries. The body of research currently available demonstrates a disparity in the focus on contributors that cause mining-related injuries beyond the presence of hazards.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this paper was to systematically review and synthesise peer-reviewed published studies that have investigated whether certain individual characteristics, behavioural factors and job-related factors predict mining-related injuries.

METHODS

Databases were searched and peer-reviewed publications from 2004 to 2020 were retrieved and analysed. Only 24 from 3073 identified articles were retained for review and synthesis following careful screening. Most identified studies were either cross-sectional or case-control studies, and they were rated as moderate-to-good quality.

RESULTS

The review results showed that there is a diverging view in relation to risk factors that cause mining-related injuries. Some publications suggested that old age, male miners, married miners, less educated miners, less experienced miners, alcohol and drug usage, poor working conditions, poor management or supervision, job dissatisfaction and job stress predict injury events while other studies found contradictory relationships or insignificant statistical associations.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the fact that studied risk factors have been well-established in other industries, there is a significant gap in mining that needs further examination. It is imperative that health and safety intervention strategies are devised and implemented for vulnerable groups.

Identification of hidden disaster causing factors in coal mine based on Naive Bayes algorithm

In order to overcome the problems of low recognition rate and long recognition time existing in traditional methods, a method for identifying hidden disaster factors in coal mines based on Naive Bayes algorithm was proposed. The posterior probability of Bayesian network is calculated to obtain the maximum value of the posterior probability, so as to judge the categories of hidden disaster factors in coal mines. The method of combining soft and hard threshold functions is used to denoise Naive Bayes network. Combined with the structural equation of coal mine concealed disaster-causing factors, the index weight of coal mine disaster-causing factors is calculated, and a fast identification model of disaster-causing factors is built to complete the identification. Experimental results show that the quality factors of the proposed method are all higher than 8, the recognition rate is as high as 98%, and the recognition time is basically controlled within 0.8 s.

Mining Employees Safety and the Application of Information Technology in Coal Mining: Review

Background: Though the introduction of modern safer underground coal mining methods and automation, mine accidents still cause loss of lives, time, and money. This paper aims to analyze in detail the causes of safety and environmental issues in the coal mining industry, as well as the impact of IoT on coal mining. Method: A systematic review was conducted. A comprehensive search involving Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Science direct databases was conducted using a combination of the following keywords: mining accidents, coal mining injuries, human error in mining, intelligent mining, etc. The inclusion criteria: (1) the study was published between January 2000 and June 2020; (2) the participants were coal mining employees/coal mining accidents and accidents were work-related; (3) the study focused on identifying causes of coal mining safety issues or accidents, factors that influence unsafe behaviors and accidents in coal mining, coal mining rescue management, coal mining rescue plan, coal mining environmental impact, mining information technology, intelligent mining; (4) the study was published in a refereed journal; (5) the study was written in English. In this paper, articles were retained if they were original studies. Results: A total of 59 papers were reviewed in detail. Safety issues in coal mining and the impact of IoT were identified and categorized into three main factors: general safety issues, environmental factors, and mining information technology. Recently, the coal mines had become mechanized and automated leading to improved safety, productivity, and cost. However, Human factors such as lack of appropriate skill, lack of experience, perceptual error, and unsafe behaviors, as well as lack of detailed emergency rescue plan were the leading causes of coal mining injuries. Furthermore, abandoned mining sites' carbon emission is greater than active sites. Conclusion: The study recommends further research to be conducted using different psychological models to understand human factors and design effective safety management systems. And the environmental impact of abandoned mining sites should be given due attention.

Modeling of occupational safety and health factors in production organizations and the formation of measuring scales of occupational safety climate

This article explores the impact of the main occupational safety and health (OSH) factors in the overall OSH climate of production organizations in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, South Serbia, as an important segment of their strategic development. The article aims to validate and test the proposed conceptual model of OSH. Hence, the SmartPLS methodology was applied. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 21.0. The hypothesized model was developed and tested on a sample of 871 participants employed in production companies. The results indicate that the development of an OSH climate in production organizations primarily depends on the commitment of the management to the OSH system. The results obtained indicate that the methods used in this research can be successfully used in order to identify the OSH factors in the work process, and thus to manage the quality of the work environment.

Task rotation in an underground coal mine: Implications on injury and musculoskeletal discomfort

PURPOSE

To investigate the effect of a task rotation schedule on musculoskeletal injury and the challenges of implementing a task rotation schedule within an underground coal mine.

METHODS

This was a pre-post cross-sectional intervention study with two underground coal mines. Participant-surveys were collected at baseline and 12-months.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in musculoskeletal discomfort between the two sites in any body region. Tasks were rotated two to three times a shift on average.

CONCLUSIONS

The task rotation schedule did not have a significant impact upon musculoskeletal discomfort although this does not necessarily reflect that the rotation schedule was in-effective in curbing injury, rather highlights the complexity of developing a successful task rotation schedule within an underground coal mine. The task rotation schedule, its implementation and execution need consideration and further investigation to assist in effectively controlling injury and fatigue risk.

Who Reports Low Interactive Psychology Status? An Investigation Based on Chinese Coal Miners

In mine safety and health research, psychological issues have always been neglected. This paper aims to identify the psychological perceptions of workers with respect to the mine environment and interpersonal environment across the whole production system. A survey was designed that measured the miners' demographic details and perceptions of two affect-based interactions; three resource-based interactions for the manager, supervisor, co-worker; and three actual environment interactions. A total of 642 frontline coal miners from six mines located in six provinces in China completed the survey. The main results indicated that that miners reported low psychology status, especially those over 51 years old, with a monthly income of 2000-4000 and junior school education. Second, there was a high proportion of inferior value in environmental interactions. Meanwhile, the miners' interactions with their co-workers were perceived as the most positive and those with their managers as the least in interpersonal interactions. Third, there were significant differences in sub-dimension interactions (actual environment, resource-based, affect-based interactions) that certainly existed in these interactive roles. Additionally, the dissociated type of miners with manager and supervisor (low resource and affect-based interaction) reached 23.99~24.45%. This study revealed the inner psychological risk factors for safety and health work in coal mines and provides an essential guideline for mining industries.

Analysis of a Historical Accident in a Spanish Coal Mine

There has been a long history of coal mine accidents and these, usually, involve serious injuries, fatalities, and the destruction of facilities. In the seventies, an explosion killed 28 miners in a Spanish coal mine. This paper gives insight into the main factors of the accident by means of the causation mode, using two well-known alternatives: (1) the method from the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo (INSST), where the causes and circumstances of the accident are classified into immediate causes and basic causes, and (2) the Feyer and Williamson method, where the classification is done using precursor events and contributing factors. The analysis identifies the lessons to be learned from the disaster. Both methods have given very similar results, verifying the goodness of the analysis. Methane emissions due to a variation in the exploitation method, the electrical installation, and a lack of safety procedures and training were the main causes of the accident. These findings explain the real causes of this accident and can be very valuable for the prevention of future accidents.

Risk Assessment of Miners' Unsafe Behaviors: A Case Study of Gas Explosion Accidents in Coal Mine, China

China’s coal mine production situation is grim and various types of accidents occur frequently, and gas explosion accidents are the highest incidence of coal mine accidents. The authors selected 200 gas explosion accidents of coal mine enterprises in recent years, and extracted a large number of workers’ unsafe behaviors. Meanwhile, four working types related to gas explosion accidents were obtained, namely ventilation, gas prevention and fire extinguishing, blasting, and electrician. This article listed some influencing factors of unsafe behaviors and corrected the probability of unsafe behaviors. In addition, a probabilistic risk assessment model was established, and the Monte Carlo method was used to analyze the risks caused by unsafe behaviors of various working types. The results show that the risk of unsafe behaviors caused by the ventilation working type is the highest, followed by gas prevention and fire extinguishing, and finally blasting and electrician. This paper studies the influencing factors of miners’ unsafe behaviors from the perspective of behavior, guarantees effectively the safety management of coal mine enterprises, and lays a foundation for studying unsafe behaviors related to coal mine gas explosions.

Analysis of Influencing Factors of Occupational Safety and Health in Coal Chemical Enterprises Based on the Analytic Network Process and System Dynamics

In the production process of coal chemical enterprises, there are factors such as dust, poisons, as well as toxic and harmful gases, which seriously restrict the safety and health of employees. It is urgent to strengthen research on occupational safety and health (OSH) of coal chemical enterprises. Research on the influencing factors is very important to improve the level of OSH in coal chemical enterprises. Therefore, this paper analyzed the factors affecting OSH of coal chemical enterprises from four aspects: “human–machine–environment–management”. Then, an influencing factor indicator system was constructed. The weights of the indicator were analyzed using the Analytic Network Process (ANP). On this basis, the primary and secondary indicators of the influencing factors were ranked. Subsequently, the weights of ANP were taken as the influence coefficient between variables, and the System Dynamics (SD) model of OSH control measures was established and analyzed. According to the weights of ANP and the results of SD simulation, management and control measures were proposed to provide theoretical support and method guidance for improving the level of OSH in coal chemical enterprises. Finally, the research results were experimentally applied to coal chemical enterprises. The research results of the paper will improve the level of OSH in coal chemical enterprises of both theoretical and practical applications.