Lok Sabha Question No. 3227 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-09
Subject: Mining Accidents
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Sanjeev Kumar Singari, Sanjay Seth

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3227 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2019

## MINING ACCIDENTS

## 3227. DR. SANJEEV KUMAR SINGARI:

## SHRI SANJAY SETH:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)the number of mining accidents reported during the last five years and the current year;
- (b)the details  of  the  number  of  deaths  and  injured persons  in  those accidents;
- (c)the rate of mining accidents recorded in country during the last two years along with the measures/steps taken by the Government to prevent such accidents;
- (d)whether the Government has drawn/provided adequate safety and security systems to combat any such fire accidents and other dangers arising out in mines and if so, the details thereof including the safety measures taken by  the  Government  for  fire  safety  and  security  in  various  mines  in  the country;
- (e)the  various  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  adhere  and  comply  with international  fire  safety  standard  in  the  mines  to  protect  mine  workers; and
- (f)the fund allocated, disbursed and spent on the safety and security of mines in the country during the said period?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

- (a) & (b): As per information provided by mine management  to the Directorate  General  of  Mines  Safety  (DGMS)  under  Ministry  of  Labour  and Employment,  the  details  of  the  number  of  mining  accidents,  number  of fatalities  and  injured  persons  reported  during  the  last  five  years  and  the current year is as follows:

| Year   |   Number of fatal accidents |   Number of serious accidents |   Number of deaths |   Number of injured persons |
|--------|-----------------------------|-------------------------------|--------------------|-----------------------------|
| 2014   |                          98 |                           423 |                107 |                         454 |
| 2015   |                          99 |                           337 |                103 |                         367 |
| 2016   |                         106 |                           305 |                144 |                         326 |
| 2017   |                         102 |                           204 |                129 |                         231 |
| 2018   |                          97 |                           215 |                116 |                         241 |
| 2019*  |                          81 |                           113 |                 93 |                         130 |

* Data for the year 2019 are provisional and are as per the report received up to 31.10.2019.

- (c): The rate of mining accidents per thousand employees recorded in the country during the last two years is as follows:

|   Year |   Rate of fatal accidents |   Rate of serious accidents |
|--------|---------------------------|-----------------------------|
|   2017 |                    0.1811 |                      0.3623 |
|   2018 |                    0.1723 |                      0.3818 |

The  following  steps  are  taken  by  Directorate  General  of  Mines Safety (DGMS) to augment safety and efficiency of mines in the country:

- (1) Inspection  of  mines  by  officers  of  DGMS  to  assess  the  safety parameters are conducted and following measures are taken :
2.  Pointing out contraventions
3.  Withdrawal of permission
4.  Issue of improvement notices
5.  Prohibition of employment
6.  Informal stoppages
7.  Prosecution in the court of law
- (2) To maintain the safety of labourers working under great risk conditions  in  coal  mines  the  following  steps  are  also  taken  by  the Government:
9. (i) To  promote  and  propagate  safety  awareness  in  mines,  National Safety Awards (Mines), National Conference on Safety in Mines are organized by DGMS. The recommendations of National Conference on Safety in Mines are implemented to enhance the safety of mine workers.
10. (ii) Workers  participation  and  sensitization  in  matters  of  safety  are ensured through training in safety and by initiatives like observance of safety week and safety campaigns, etc.
11. (iii) Safety  training  programmes  are  organized  among  Managers  and Supervisors for improving safety standards in mines.
12. (iv) Introduction  of  Risk  Assessment  Techniques  and  preparation  of safety management plan aimed at elimination of risks and to ensure safety of workmen.
13. (v) Introduction  of  standard  operating  procedures  to  avoid  unsafe practices in mines.
14. (vi) Time  to  time,  DGMS  Circulars  are  issued  as  guidelines  for  safe operations in identified thrust areas.

(d)&(e): Government has made provisions to deal with the safety issues pertaining to fire in coal, metalliferous and oil mines under regulations 134142  of the  Coal Mines  Regulations,  2017,  regulations  119-123  of  the Metalliferous  Mines  Regulations,  1961  and  regulations  97-101  of  the  Oil Mines Regulations, 2017 respectively. Compliance of the above provisions in mines by the mine owners/ management is checked during regular inspections carried out in mines by officers of DGMS.

In  addition  to  the  above  provisions,  following  detail  guidelines have  been  issued  by  the  DGMS  for  addressing  the  hazards  through  risk analysis based 'Safety Management System/Plan (SMP)' and for dealing with the emergency situations in mines, which, among others, are also very much relevant for the fire hazard:

- i. DGMS(Tech.)(S&T) Circular No. 13 of 2002 titled 'Safety Management System - A guideline for implementation';
- ii. DGMS (Tech)(S&T) Circular No. 02 of 2011 titled 'Safety Management System - Provision for auditing and review';
- iii. DGMS (Tech)(S&T) Circular No. 5 of 2016, titled 'Integrated approach for development of Safety Management Plan for coal and metalliferous mines'; and
- iv. DGMS (Tech)(S&T) Circular No. 8 of 2016, titled 'Emergency Management Plan for Indian coal and metal mines'.

The proactive approach of 'Safety Management System' enables the mine management to address the site specific dangers by pinpointing the actual  problem,  which  is  in  line  with  the  present  international  practices. Also, the concept of 'Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan' facilitates reduction in the response time to save life and property in case of emergency.

- No  separate  fund  is  allocated  by  the  Ministry  of  Labour  and Employment with regard to safety and security of mines in the country. The responsibilities of establishing safety and security systems in mines lies with mine  owner/management.  However,  regular  inspection  and  enquiry  in  the

(f): mines are being conducted by DGMS officials.

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