Lok Sabha Question No. 1371 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-09
Subject: Facilities to Coal Mine Workers
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, C.N. Annadurai, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Manjulata Mandal, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Pawan Rajenimbalkar, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Ganesan Selvam, Dhanush M Kumar, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Kuldeep Rai Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1371 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.02.2022

## Facilities to Coal Mine Workers

## 1371.   DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE :

SHRI C. N. ANNADURAI :

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE :

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMANI PON :

SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL :

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE :

SHRI OM PRAKASH BHUPALSINH alias PAWAN RAJENIMBALKAR :

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR :

SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKAR E:

SHRI SELVAM G. :

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR :

DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR. S. :

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA :

Will the Minister of COAL be pleased to state:

- (a)        the details and number of coal mine workers working in different State owned coal mines across the country, State/UT-wise;
- (b)         the  details  of  the  number  of  facilities  including  safety  facilities  being  provided  to these workers across the country;
- (c)         the  details  of  problems/hardships  being  faced  by  the  labourers/workers  in  the  coal mines;
- (d)       whether the Government has received any complaints at present in some of the States in connection with violation of safety guidelines in their mines and if so, the  details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (e)        whether the Government has taken any step for the security of coal mine workers who remain exposed to grave danger at the time of mining and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f)        the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to improve their condition?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  :        Non-executives  employees  working  in  the  subsidiaries  of  CIL  located  in  different States as on 01.01.2022 is given below:
- (b):       Following facilities are provided to coal mine workers in CIL and its subsidiaries for mine safety:-
-  Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) as per job-specific requirement such as Mining Shoes, Gumboots, Helmet, Safety Belt, Safety harness / Safety Hook, Hand Gloves, Protective Goggles, Ear muffs, Self-contained breathing apparatus (for rescue workers) etc.
-  Personal Cap lamp at underground (UG) mines.
-  Adequate ventilation at UG mines.
-  Adequate Support at roof & side for UG workings of coal mine.
-  Gas Detecting Apparatus for early detection of inflammable & noxious gases in UG mines.
-  Adequate qualified supervisory staffs.
-  Job Specific Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)s.
-  Rest Shelter, First-aid station and Mine station.
-  Ergonomically designed machines used in mines.
-  Adequate illumination and water spraying arrangement in mines.

| Subsidiary   | State       |   Number of employees (Non-Exe.) |
|--------------|-------------|----------------------------------|
| ECL          | Jharkhand   |                             7283 |
| ECL          | West Bengal |                            44274 |

| BCCL                   | Jharkhand              |   36381 |
|------------------------|------------------------|---------|
| BCCL                   | West Bengal            |    1271 |
| CCL                    | Jharkhand              |   33899 |
| WCL                    | Madhya Pradesh         |    8309 |
| WCL                    | Maharashtra            |   25702 |
| SECL                   | Chhattisgarh           |   28246 |
| SECL                   | Madhya Pradesh         |   14026 |
| SECL                   | West Bengal            |     174 |
| MCL                    | Odisha                 |   20212 |
| NCL                    | Madhya Pradesh         |    7487 |
|                        | Uttar Pradesh          |    5332 |
| NEC                    | Delhi                  |       1 |
| NEC                    | Jharkhand              |       1 |
| NEC                    | West Bengal            |       3 |
| NEC                    | Assam                  |     746 |
| NEC                    | Meghalaya              |       8 |
| CMPDI                  | Chhattisgarh           |     457 |
| CMPDI                  | Jharkhand              |     826 |
| CMPDI                  | Maharashtra            |     272 |
| CMPDI                  | Madhya Pradesh         |     178 |
| CMPDI                  | Odisha                 |     243 |
| CMPDI                  | West Bengal            |     227 |
| CIL(HQ)                | Delhi                  |      44 |
| CIL(HQ)                | Maharashtra            |       3 |
| CIL(HQ)                | Tamil Nadu             |       1 |
| CIL(HQ)                | West Bengal            |     284 |
| CIL Total              | CIL Total              |  235890 |
| SCCL (As on 31.1.2022) | SCCL (As on 31.1.2022) |   43299 |
| NLC India Limited*     | NLC India Limited*     |     188 |

Apart  from  facilities  related  to  Safety,  following  welfare  facilities  are  extended  to workers & their families like housing, water supply, education, scholarship scheme, financial assistance, medical facilities, statutory and non-statutory facilities.

The following steps are being taken to ensure safety of Coal Mine Workers in SCCL: -

-  Training & Re-training of all workmen including supervisors is taken up.
-  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as Safety Helmet, Miners Shoes, Goggles, Safety Belt, Safety Harness, Apron, Miners cap lamp, Welders face shield, Ear plugs and  Ear  muffs,  Dust  respirators,  self  rescuer,  safety  lamp  arc  flash  suit  and  Gas monitors etc are provided to the employees.
-  Arrangements  have  been  made  at  all  Mines  Vocational  Training  Centres  (MVTC), Underground  Mechanisation  Technical  Institute  (UMTI)  and  Technical  Training Centre (TTC) to impart better skills to all employees, technicians and supervisors.
-  In  underground  mines,  telephonic  communication  has  been  established  near  the working  districts  and  to  the  surface.  Wireless  communication  is  provided  to  all executives, supervisors and competent persons in all opencast mines.
-  Basic requirement to reduce Roof and Side falls in underground mines is to reduce deployment of number of men in potentially dangerous, active, moving coal faces and in  depillaring  areas.  Therefore,  Manual  Mining  has  been  phased  out  and  semimechanisation  with  SDLs,  LHDs  and  Continuous  Miners  has  been  introduced  to reduce the presence of persons at the face and to augment production.
-  Mechanized  Roof  bolting  with  Resin  grouting  is  being  implemented  as  primary support in all active working faces in underground mines.
-  To avoid arduous travel of workmen and supervisors in all the underground mines, Man Riding Systems viz. Chair lift, Chair Car, and Man winding are provided.
-  The services of scientific institutions like, CIMFR, NIRM etc., are being utilized for designing of panels and effective strata management system.
-  Training is imparted to technicians and operators by original equipment manufacturers (OEM).
-  Safety Audits for different activities such as monsoon precautions, Haul road safety, haulage  etc  are  being  conducted  on  regular  basis  by  constituting  a  committee  with mine officials.
-  Involvement  of  representatives  of  workmen  in  Bipartite  and  Tripartite  meetings, Regional  Safety  Committee  Meetings,  Mines  Committee  Meetings  inviting  their suggestions regarding safety related activities and implementation of their suggestions.
-  Rescue Stations have been established for imparting initial and refresher training in mines  rescue  and  recovery  work.  To  minimize  the  response  time  and  to  improve reliability,  new  emergency  rescue  vehicles  fully  equipped  with  latest  generation equipment are being used.
-  Maintaining Rescue Brigades to attend any emergency in the case of any eventuality. These rescue stations possess state of art equipment breathing apparatus, Hydraulic jacks and cutters, pneumatic lifting bags etc.
-  OHS - SCCL has 10 Occupational Health Centers (OHS) to carry out all the tests and medical  examinations  required  as  per  the  Law  and  guidelines  issued  in  National Safety Conferences.
-  Initial  Medical  Examination  (IME),  Periodical  Medical  Examination  (PME)  of employees including workmen are being conducted as per recommendations of safety conferences. All the employees, prior to appointment are being subjected to IME and thereafter, PME once in every 5 years. Employees with more than 45 years of age, PME is being carried out once in every 2 ½ years.

In NLC India Ltd, the following are the facilities provided to the workers of the coal mine : -

-  Personal  Protective  equipment  (PPEs),  Safe  Drinking  water  facilities,  First  Aid facility, Canteen facility, Periodical Medical Check-ups, Ambulance facility etc. are provided to ensure Safety, Health & welfare facilities to labourers/workers.
-  VTC  (Vocational  Training  Course)  i.e.  Basic  training  &  Refresher  training  to labourers/workers for improving safety standards in mines.
-  Applicable Govt. wages to all the labourers/workers.
-  Social security of labours by providing workmen  insurance  and contributing Provident fund and pension etc.

(c):        In  CIL,  coal  mining  is  beset  with  many  problems  /dangers  due  to  the  presence  of various  inherent  hazards  attributed  to  geo-mining  conditions  of  mine,  operational  hazards arising out of various mining operations and occupational hazards due to difficult working conditions, which cannot be avoided totally.

In SCCL, employees working in coal mines face the problem of long traveling, walking along gradients, hot and humid environmental conditions, dusty atmospheres etc. These problems are  mitigated  by  providing  manriding  systems,  providing  effective  ventilation  in  working places including air chilling plans wherever required, providing effective water spraying and providing dust masks, enclosed cabins etc.

No problem/hardships is being faced by labourers/workers in Talabira II & III OCP of NLC India Limited.

(d):       In  CIL,  whenever  any  observation(s)  made  by  the  DGMS  officials,  the  regulatory authority for mine safety in India or Workman's Inspector(s) or Safety Committee of Mine constituted under the Statute, during inspection on violations of various provisions stipulated under statutes regarding mine safety, the required remedial measures, as deemed fit, are taken and  compliances  are  communicated  within  the  stipulated  time.  Apart  from  the  above,  any complaint  received  from  any  common  person  or  member(s)  of  constitutional  bodies  or representative(s)  of  trade  union(s)  or  any  employee  by  the  Management  at  Mine  Level  or Area Level or Subsidiary HQ level or at CIL level, appropriate corrective actions, as deemed fit, are taken to ensure safety of mine and the same is communicated to the complainer.

SCCL is complying with all the rules, regulations and guidelines with regard to safety.   Any violation observed during inspection of SCCL/DGMS official is being rectified at the earliest.

No complaint has been received regarding violation of safety guideline from the labourers/workers in Talabira II & III OCP of NLC India Limited.

(e) & (f):        Following Social Security measures are being provided to the Non-Executive cadre employees of CIL and its subsidiaries:

-  Death due to COVID-19 : An amount of ₹ 15  lakh  is  paid  to  the  next  of  kin  of  an employee in case of death due to COVID-19.
-  Death due to mine accident : An amount of ₹ 15 lakh is paid to the next of kin of an employee in case of fatal mine accident.
-  Life  Cover  Scheme : An  amount  upto ₹ 1,25,000/-  is  paid  under  the  Life  Cover Scheme
-  Workmen's  Compensation  Benefits : The  employees  are  entitled  to  the  benefits admissible under The Employee's Compensation Act, 1923.
-  Ex-Gratia : In addition to Employee Compensation Act, additional ₹ 90,000 is paid in case of death or permanent total disablement.
-  Gratuity : Upto ₹ 20 Lakhs as per eligibility under Payment of Gratuity Act.
-  All employees are covered under the Coal Mines Provident Fund scheme with equal shares both by employees and the company.
-  Contributory Pension under Coal Mines Pension Scheme, 1998.
-  Contributory Post Retirement Medicare Scheme for Non-Executives.

CIL has taken the following steps for ensuring safety of the coal mine workers, and for further improving safety standard of mines so that workers are not exposed to dangers:-

-  All  mines  are  operated  by  adhering  all  the  relevant  provisions  made  under  various applicable  statutes  for  ensuring  mine  safety.  Further,  the  stipulated  conditions  as stated in the DGMS permission for Work in mines are also complied.
-  Multi-disciplinary  Internal  Safety  Organization  (ISO)  established  in  each  subsidiary to assist the line management at various levels in matters related to Safety.
-  Safety  monitoring  mechanism  established  at  various  level  with  active  workers participation.

Apart  from  the  above,  the  following  steps  are  also  taken  by  CIL  for  improving  safety standard of mines:-

-  Risk assessment based Safety Management Plans (SMPs).
-  Site-specific  Risk  Assessment  based  Standard  Operating  Procedures  (SOPs)  for  all mining operations.
-  Safety Audit of mines to assess the safety status of the mine in each year.
-  Online Safety Monitoring System i.e. 'CIL Safety Information System (CSIS)' has been developed for monitoring different safety parameters of all mines.

## Adoption of the state-of-the art mechanism for Strata Management such as:-

-  Scientifically determined Rock Mass Rating (RMR) based Support System.
-  Strata Control Cell for monitoring efficacy of strata support system.
-  Roof bolting by using mechanized Drilling for Roof Bolting.
-  Need based use of Resin capsules and Cement capsules for grouting of roof bolts and modern Strata Monitoring Instruments / devices are also used.
-  Imparting quality training to support crews & front-line mine officials.

## Mechanism for monitoring of mine environment:

-  Detection of mine gases by using appropriate devices.
-  Need based application of Environmental Tele Monitoring System (ETMS) & Local Methane Detectors (LMD) etc.
-  Gas Chromatograph for quick mine air sample analysis with better accuracy.
-  Personal Dust Sampler (PDS) for measuring dust concentration in working zone.
-  Continuous  Ambient  Air  Quality  Monitoring  System  (CAAQMS)  is  used  in  large OCPs to assess the ambient dust concentration.

## Training on Mine Safety and Safety Awareness Drive:

-  Initial and Refresher training & On-the-Job Training as per statute.
-  Training on Simulators to HEMM operators.
-  Skill up-gradation of front line mine officials on continual basis on various topics.
-  Sensitization of  all  employees  including  Members  of  Safety  Committees  and contractual workmen on regular basis.
-  Video clips and Animation Films are prepared on various safety related issues. These Video  clips  /  Animation  films  are  shared  amongst  employees  for  enhancing  safety awareness level.

## Specific Safety measures for OC mines:-

-  Use of eco-friendly Surface Miners for blast free mining and avoidance of associated risks of blasting of coal.
-  Mine-specific Traffic Rules in each mine.
-  Training on Simulators to HEMM operators apart from statutory vocational training.
-  Lighting arrangement in all work places and haul roads.
-  Dumpers fitted with various safety devices such as Proximity Warning Devices, Rear view mirrors and camera, Audio-Visual Alarm (AVA), Automatic Fire Detection & Suppression system etc.
-  Ergonomically designed seats & AC Cabins for operators' comfort.

CIL and its subsidiary company gives utmost priority in provisioning all the Statutory and Non-statutory  welfare  amenities  at  mines  and  working  place  for  example  Canteen,  Rest Shelter, Drinking water facility (Cooler cum water purifier), Hospital/ Dispensary, First Aid Centre, Separate Toilets for male and female workers, etc.

Besides  there  are  Grievance  resolving  bodies  at  every  level  of  organization  viz:  Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), Welfare Board, Area Consultative Committee (ACC), Area Welfare Committee etc, to address the concerns of workers and also to timely review and upgrade the welfare amenities/ provisions.

In  SCCL,   Coal  Mine  Safety  Legislation  in  India  is  one  of  the  most  comprehensive  and pervasive statutory framework for ensuring occupational health and safety (OHS). Compliance of these safety statutes is mandatory.

In NLC India Ltd., Talabira II & III coal mines is an opencast mine and no mine labourers / workers are exposed to grave danger at the time of mining. The steps taken by NLCIL to improve the conditions of labourers/workers are as follows:-

1.         To ensure providing the Safety, Health & welfare facilities to labourers/workers such as providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), Safe Drinking water facilities, First Aid facility, Canteen facility, Periodical Medical Check-ups, Ambulance facility etc.
2.          Ensuring  to  provide  VTC  (Vocational  Training  Course)  i.e.  Basic  training  & Refresher training to labourers/workers for improving safety standards in mines.
3.         Ensuring to pay applicable Govt. wages to all the labourers/workers.
4. Ensuring Social security of labourers by providing workmen  insurance and contributing Provident fund and pension etc.

***