Analysis of characteristics and causes of gas explosion accidents: a historical review of coal mine accidents in China

Objectives This study aimed to provide greater insight into the characteristics of severe and extraordinarily severe gas explosion accidents (SESGEAs). Methods. The study analyzed the accident characteristics and causes of SESGEAs. As an example, we conducted a specialized case analysis using the 24Model (fourth edition) on the recent Baoma coal mine gas explosion. Results. SESGEA data are characterized by greater volatility, with significant differences in the geographical distribution, temporal distribution and attributed characteristics of the accidents. From the accident analysis: chaotic ventilation management was the most serious accident cause of SESGEAs; unsafe acts related to ventilation operations accounted for 18.51% of all unsafe acts; coal miners lack professional safety knowledge and have a serious fluke mentality in mining work; enterprises have insufficient enforcement of safety procedure documents, and lack of attention to the allocation of underground human resources and safety training systems; and the importance of safety, the role of the safety department and satisfaction with safety facilities have become the most serious missing items of safety culture. Conclusion. This study can provide important data support and management basis to assist mine operators in developing more targeted accident prevention strategies.

24Model-based comparative analysis of two catastrophic hazardous chemical pipeline accidents

Objectives. This study conducted a comparative analysis of two catastrophic pipeline accidents in China in order to identify some common mistakes and lessons learned to prevent similar accidents. Methods. The 24Model was used in this study, which provides a universal pathway for accident analysis from the individual level to the organizational level. Results. There were similarities between the two cases in the aspects of the occurrence, development, emergency and causation at different levels: both were caused by leaks of pipelines and evolved into multiple explosions during emergency response; both leaks were caused by the corrosion of pipelines in the confined space of a damp or salt-spray environment; both were classified as 'responsibility accidents', and unsafe acts, such as the failure to identify hidden hazards of pipelines that were the direct cause of accidents, reflected the shortcomings of individual safety habitual behaviour in terms of knowledge, awareness, habits and psychology; weaknesses in the organizational management mainly concerned hazard identification, pipeline maintenance, emergency disposal, etc.; and there is not a good safety climate within the organization. Conclusions. Organizations should develop a closed-loop management system and strengthen the construction of safety culture, and the government should supervise the implementation of procedures.

Comparative study of fault tree analysis and 24Model: taking the cause analysis of the Quanzhou Xinjia Hotel collapse accident as an example

A comparative study was conducted to compare the accident cause analysis methods of fault tree analysis (FTA) and 24Model. A major accident - the Xinjia Hotel collapse accident - was selected as the research object, the causes of the accident were reanalysed and accident prevention countermeasures were designed based on 24Model and FTA, respectively, and the systematic characteristics of 24Model were summarized. The research shows that both 24Model and FTA can carry out risk assessment, accident cause analysis and preventive countermeasure design based on their own rules. Different from FTA, 24Model has static and dynamic structures of specific forms, the definition of causes and factors in the model is more comprehensive and the analysis method is more hierarchical and normative. 24Model can analyse the deep-level cultural and system causes, but the analysis process does not use quantitative methods, only qualitative methods. 24Model has eight systematic characteristics, such as integrity, hierarchy and dynamics.

Investigation of Unsafe Acts Influence Law Based on System Dynamics Simulation: Thoughts on Behavior Mechanism and Safety Control

In modern safety management, it is very important to study the influence of the whole safety system on unsafe acts in order to prevent accidents. However, theoretical research in this area is sparse. In order to obtain the influence law of various factors in the safety system on unsafe acts, this paper used system dynamics simulation to carry out theoretical research. First, based on a summary of the causes of the coal and gas outburst accidents, a dynamic simulation model for unsafe acts was established. Second, the system dynamics model is applied to investigate the influence of various safety system factors on unsafe acts. Third, the mechanism and the control measures of unsafe acts in the enterprise safety system are studied. This study's main result and conclusions are as follows: (1) In the new coalmines, the influence of the safety culture, safety management system, and safety ability on the safety acts were similar. The order of influence on the safety acts in production coalmines is as follows: safety management system > safety ability > safety culture. The difference is most evident in months ten to eighteen. The higher the safety level and safety construction standard of the company, the greater the difference. (2) In the construction of the safety culture, the order of influence was as follows: safety measure elements > safety responsibility elements = safety discipline elements > safety concept elements. It shows the difference in influence from the 6th month and attains its maximum value from the 12th month to the 14th month. (3) In the construction of the safety management system, the degree of influence in new coalmines was as follows: safety policy > safety management organization structure > safety management procedures. Among them, especially in the first 18 months, the impact of the safety policy was most apparent. However, in the production mine, the degree of influence was as follows: safety management organization structure > safety management procedures > safety policy, but the difference is very small. (4) The degree of influence on the construct of safety ability was as follows: safety knowledge > safety psychology = safety habits > safety awareness, but the difference on the impact was small.

Path analysis of coal mine accident risk factors based on the 24Model

OBJECTIVES

Coal mine accidents seriously affect China's coal safety production and sustainable development. The present study aimed to reveal the risk factors in coal mine accidents and explore the causal relationship among risk factors.

METHODS

This study utilized text mining to analyse 450 coal mine accident reports, identifying 50 risk factors and efficiently mapping them into the 24Model. The association rule algorithm was then used to mine the strong association rules among the risk factors within the 24Model, establishing the interaction mechanism among them. Based on the strong association rules, related hypotheses were proposed. Finally, the hierarchical and logical relationships of risk factors within the 24Model were analysed, and the causal and mediating effects were tested by path analysis.

RESULTS

The safety management system has a direct effect on unsafe acts, unsafe conditions, habitual behaviour and organizational safety culture. Moreover, external influence has an effect on unsafe acts, organizational safety culture and habitual behaviour through the mediating effect of the safety management system.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results obtained, this study proposes a series of specific measures to prevent risks in coal mines, providing a new perspective for the analysis and prevention of accidents.