Lok Sabha Question No. 3931 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-18
Subject: Guidelines for Safety and Securityin Coal Mines
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Sanjay Seth, Aparajita Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3931 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.03.2020

## Guidelines for Safety and Security in Coal Mines

## 3931.  SHRI SANJAY SETH: SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI:

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the guidelines prescribed by the Government for safety and security in coal mines across the country including Jharkhand;

(b)  whether  the  Government  has  conducted  Safety  Audit  in  all  coal  mines  of  Coal  India  Limited (CIL)  and  its  subsidiaries  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  deficiencies  identified  during  the Safety Audit;

(c) whether the serious injuries in per metric tonne rate is increasing;

- (d)  if  so,  the  number  of  cases  of  death  and  fatal  injuries  that  have  occurred  in  coal  mines  in  the country including Odisha over the past five years and the current year;
- (e) whether the victims of coal mine accidents and their families have received any compensation and if so, whether there have been any delay in their receipt; and

(f) further steps taken/being taken by the Government to improve safety standard of coal mines in the country as well as to provide workers with safety gear?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS, COAL AND MINES (SHRI PRALHAD JOSHI)

(a):        Safety,  welfare  and  health  of  workers  employed  in  mines  are  the  concern  of  the  Central Government (Entry 55-Union List-Article 246). The objective is regulated by the Mines Act, 1952 and  the  Rules  and  Regulations  framed  thereunder.  Directorate  General  of  Mines  Safety  (DGMS) under  the  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Employment,  Government  of  India  administers  this  Act  in  the mining sector. The relevant Regulations/ Rules relating to safety of Coal mines are as below:

- a. Mines Act, 1952
- b. Coal Mines Regulations, 2017
- c. Mines Rules, 1955
- d. Mines Vocational Training Rules, 1966
- e. Mines Rescue Rules, 1985

Also, keeping in line  with the mandate under the Mines Act, 1952, the Officers of DGMS undertake  sample  inspections  of  mines  and  based  on  the  contraventions  observed  during  the inspection action as provided under law is taken.

Further, Ministry of Coal has not issued any guidelines in respect of security of Coal Mines of CIL  and  its  subsidiaries.   However,  Coal  companies  are  availing  services  of  different  security agencies like Departmental Security, Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR) sponsored Security, Home Guards, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and State Industrial Security Force (SISF).

(b):       Safety Audit has been conducted for all the operating mines of Coal India Limited (CIL) and its subsidiaries for the year 2019-20.

Brief details of safety audit of mines are as under:

1. Safety Audit of mine is carried out through inter-area teams of the respective subsidiary.
2. All teams are multi-disciplinary.
3. Audit methodology consists of inspection of mine, examination of all relevant documents, scrutiny of Safety Management Plans (SMP) and report of previous safety audit.
4. Objective is to assess status of mine safety and to identify deficiencies therein, if any, to review various systems adopted and followed for mine safety as well as to suggest / recommend the areas of improvement.

Deficiencies,  if  exists,  are  identified  during  the  said  Safety  Audit.  Deficiencies  are  minespecific and varies in each mine. Appropriate corrective actions, as deemed fit, are taken to rectify mine-specific deficiencies.

(c)&(d):            Serious injuries rate per metric tonne of coal produced in CIL for last five years and current year are decreasing, which is given below:

| Year   |   2015 |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 upto Feb. |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|------------------|
| Year   |   0.27 |   0.23 |   0.19 |   0.16 |   0.15 |             0.15 |

Number of death and fatal injuries in CIL including Odisha for last five years and current year are given below:

| Year   |   2015 |   2016 |   2017 |   2018 |   2019 |   2020 upto Feb |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-----------------|
| Year   |     38 |     61 |     37 |     43 |     34 |               3 |

(e):       Yes, compensation as per the Employee Compensation Act-1923 (amended upto 2017) have been received by the dependents of the deceased employees of CIL and its subsidiaries, who  were fatally  injured  in  mining  accidents.  There  have  been  no  delay  in  providing  compensation  to  the dependents  of  the  deceased  employees  of  CIL  and  its  subsidiaries.  However,  there  are  3  pending cases. Out of 3 cases, 2 cases (one each in 2015 & 2016) are pending because matter is sub-judice and one case of 2019 is pending and same is under process.

- (f):  Directorate  General  of  Mines  Safety  (DGMS)  has  taken  following  steps  to  improve  safety standard of coal mine in the country:
- i)     Sample  inspection  of  Mines  and  action  is  taken  as  per  law  based  on  the  observations during the inspections.
- ii)   Enquiry into Accidents, Dangerous Occurrences etc. and action is taken as per law based on the findings of the enquiry,
- iii)   Amendment of safety laws,
- v)    Issue  of  guidelines  for  safer  operations  in  identified  thrust  areas  through  circulars  and issue of technical instructions to DGMS officers for their guidance.
- vi)  Introduction of Risk Assessment Techniques and preparation of safety management plan aimed at elimination of risks and to ensure safety of workmen.
- vii) Introduction of standard operating procedures to avoid unsafe practices in mines.

In  addition  to  above,  the  following  steps  to  improve  safety  standard  of  coal  mines  are  also  being taken by coal companies:

1. Preparation and implementation of risk assessment based Safety Management Plans (SMPs).
2. Preparation and implementation of Principal Hazards Management Plans (PHMPs) along with Trigger Action Response Plan (TARP).
3. Formulation  and  compliance  of  Site-specific  Risk  Assessment  based  Standard  Operating Procedures (SOPs).
4. Conducting safety audit of mines.
5. Online Centralized Safety Monitoring System 'CIL Safety Information System (CSIS)' has been developed for monitoring different safety parameters.

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