Lok Sabha Question No. 3158 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-17
Subject: Accidents in Coal Mines
Ministry: COAL
Asked by: RAGHAV LAKHANPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COAL

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3158 TO BE ANSWERED ON  17.12.2015

## Accidents in Coal Mines

## 3158.   SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL:

Will the MINISTER OF COAL be pleased to state:

(a) the details of  the accidents reported  from  the coal  mines during each of the last three years and current  year along with the reasons therefor,  including action taken  thereon, company and State-wise;

(b)  the  funds  allocated  by  the  Government  for  ensuring  the  safety  of  workers  and  providing compensation to the families of the injured/deceased workers during the said period;

(c)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  the  contract  workers  engaged  by  Coal  India  Limited  (CIL)  and  its subsidiaries are not being paid as per the applicable laws and if so, the details thereof and reasons therefor along with the action taken by the Government in this regard; and

(d) the steps taken by the Government for relief, rehabilitation, welfare and safety of workers in all the coal mines of the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF COAL, POWER AND NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a): Company-wise, State-wise and year-wise, the number fatal accidents & fatalities and serious accidents  &  serious  injuries  along  with  cause-wise  break-up  including  action  taken  thereon during the last 3 (three) years and current year upto November are given in Annex-I.

(b): The subject of compensation provided to the deceased mine workers is beyond the purview of  Mines  Act,  1952,  and  respective  mine  managements  provide  compensation/relief  which  is dealt with by the Employees' Compensation Commissioner under the Employees' Compensation Act, 2010. However , f unds allocated by Coal India Limited (CIL) & its Subsidiaries for ensuring the  safety  of  workers  during  the  said  period  is  given  in  Table-I  and  the  company-wise compensation  paid  as  per  Employee  Compensation  Act-  2009  to  the  families  of  deceased employees for last three years and current year are given at  Table-II  below:

(Table-I)

Funds allocated for safety in last three years and current year 2015-16

(Fig. in  Rs Crore.)

(Table-II)

| Company     |   2012-13 |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |
|-------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| ECL         |    158.03 |    175.69 |    246.53 |    246.72 |
| BCCL        |     28.2  |     35.85 |     25.24 |     22.77 |
| CCL         |     36.39 |     16.36 |     20.79 |     34.22 |
| NCL         |      9.03 |      9.3  |     11.07 |     12.06 |
| WCL         |    113.65 |     91.25 |     93.33 |    107    |
| SECL        |    190.61 |    179.53 |    182.84 |    180    |
| MCL         |     49.42 |     57.42 |     56.51 |     59.56 |
| NEC         |      0.49 |      1.01 |      0.73 |      1.35 |
| CIL (Total) |    585.82 |    566.41 |    637.04 |    663.68 |

Year-wise, company-wise compensation paid as per Employee Compensation Act- 2009 to the families of deceased employees for last three years and current year:

(Fig. in Rs)

| Company   | 2012        | 2013        | 2014        | 2015 (as on date)   |
|-----------|-------------|-------------|-------------|---------------------|
| ECL       | 64,11,242   | 43,09,200   | 35,14,300   | 16,38,640           |
| BCCL      | 59,82,004   | 63,07,560   | 44,04,770   | 36,02,960           |
| CCL       | 36,04,731   | 32,80,073   | 28,44,880   | 7,58,240            |
| NCL       | 37,47,181   | 39,15,870   | 37,81,120   | 0                   |
| WCL       | 63,75,182   | 45,45,554   | 62,27,220   | 44,30,124           |
| SECL      | 79,03,502   | 67,15,790   | 71,89,258   | 36,43,120           |
| MCL       | 14,39,268   | 8,15,400    | 0           | 11,65,160           |
| NEC       | 6,90080     | 0           | 0           | 0                   |
| CIL       | 3,61,53,190 | 2,98,89,447 | 2,73,04,268 | 1,52,38,244         |

There  is  no  separate  fund  allocated  for  providing  compensation  to  the  families  of  the  injured  / deceased workers.

(c): The  contractors'  workers  engaged  in  mining  activities  are  being  paid  wages  as  per  the recommendation of High Power Committee, which has suggested wages based on the mid-way between the wages prescribed by  the Central Govt.  under Minimum Wages  Act 1948  for the workers employed in schedule employed for non-coal mines and the wages payable to the lowest category of regular workers, i.e. Cat.I of NCWA-IX.  The wages of minimum rate of wages of contractors'  workers  engaged  in  mining  activities  in  Coal  India  Ltd.  &  its  Subsidiaries  w.e.f. 01.10.2015 is as under:-

| Categories of Employee             |   Rates of wages including Variable Dearness Allowance (VDA) w.e.f. 01.10.2015 (in Rs.) |
|------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Unskilled                          |                                                                                     495 |
| Semi-Skilled/Unskilled Supervisory |                                                                                     533 |
| Skilled                            |                                                                                     571 |
| Highly Skilled                     |                                                                                     609 |

(d):  The  steps  taken  by  the  CIL  and  its  Subsidiaries  for  relief,    rehabilitation,  welfare  and  safety  of workers in all the its coal mines of the country:

## (i) Relief and  rehabilitation measures

CIL provides the following compensation, relief etc. to the family of deceased who died in any mine accident arising out of and in course of employment.

1. Payment of compensation under Employee's Compensation Act - 2009 (amended).
2. Employment  to  the  dependent  of  deceased  departmental  employee.  If  no  eligible  person  for employment, monetary compensation in lieu of employment.
3. Rs. 5 lakhs to the dependent of deceased departmental employee as a special relief / ex-gratia (in addition to the amount payable under the Employee Compensation Act-2009 (amended)).
4. Immediate payment of lump sum amount (generally Rs 20,000) is paid to the family of deceased for funeral, transport expenses etc.
5. Monetary  benefits  under  Life  Cover  Scheme  (LCS)  of  Rs  1,12,800/  w.e.f.  1.2.2012  as  per NCWA-IX.
6. Ex-gratia  amount  of  Rs  84,600/  in  case  of  death  or  permanent  total  disablement  resulting  on account of accident arising out of and in course of employment w.e.f1.2.2012 as per NCWA-IX.
7. Gratuity on the basis of the length of service (maximum ceiling Rs, 10, 00,000)
8. Other benefits like P.F as per CMPF rule, Pension as per CMPS, 1998, Encashment of EL etc as company (CIL) rules.

In case of serious bodily injury / disablement in course of employment:

- I. Full basic wages and dearness allowance from the date of accident till employee is declared fit by the Company's Medical Officer. The disabled employee will have to remain  under treatment of Company's Medical Officer or in a hospital approved /referred by the company.
- II. Compensation under the Workmen (Employee) Compensation Act-1923 is being paid to serious bodily-injured person involved with permanent disability, after due assessment of the percentage of permanent disability by an approved Medical Board.
- III. Ex-gratia amount  of Rs 84,600/ (w.e.f 1.2.2012)as per NCWA-IXis paid to  injured employee in case  of  permanent  total  disablement  resulting  on  account  of  accident  out  of  and  in  course  of employment.

## (ii) Welfare measures:

The  Coal  Companies  pay  greater  attention  to  the  Welfare  of    their  workers  and  their families  which  apart  from  statutory  welfare  facilities,  include  Housing  and  Water  supply, educational  facilities, facilities for Cooperative stores and credit societies, banking facilities and medical facilities, as per the policy of CIL.

## Safety measures

The following steps taken by the Government to prevent such accidents in all the coal mines in the country :-

- (i) Replacement of  manual  loading and transportation at the coal  faces by  mechanized drilling, loading and transportation;

- (ii) Continuous environment monitoring in gassy mines for forewarning of any accumulation of  inflammable gas, presence of  noxious  gases  including Co, Co2 and deficiency of oxygen in mine atmosphere;
- (iii) Replacement  of  low  capacity  loading  and  transport  machinery  by  high  capacity machines  in  open  cast  mines,  for  reducing  the  traffic  in  mines  and  accidents  in opencast operations;
- (iv) Initiatives for improving the skills of the operators and competent persons using most modern training aids like simulators, 3D Artificial Intelligent Audio-Visuals;
- (v) Promotion and propagation of safety awareness in mines.
- (vi) Ensuring Worker's  participation  and  sensitization in matters  of  safety  through training in  safety  and  by  initiatives  like  celebration  of  safety  week  and  safety campaigns, etc.
- (vii) Safety  training  programmes  for Managers and      Supervisors  for  improving safety standards in mines.
- (viii) Introduction  of  Risk  Assessment  Techniques  aimed  at  elimination  of  risks  and  to ensure safety of workmen.
- (ix) Standard operating procedures to avoid unsafe practices in mines.
- (x) Organising special safety awareness campaign to increase awareness of mine workers (i.e., 'Safety is My Responsibility').

Apart from compliance of the statutory provisions as laid down in the Mines Act, 1952, the Coal Mine  Regulations-  1957  and  Byelaws  &  Standing  Order  framed  there  under,  CIL  has  taken  several remedial measures to prevent fatalities and to improve the standard of safety are as under:

1. CIL has  established  a  structured  multi-disciplinary  Internal  Safety  Organization  (ISO)  to  assist  the line management at various levels in matters related to Safety.
2. Risk Assessment & Safety Management Plan:  Risk assessment based Safety Management Plans  have  been  prepared  for  all  mines  of  CIL.  It  is  an  on-going  process  for  continuous improvement of safety standards in mines.
3. Safety Audit of the mines is being conducted from time to time.
4.   Steps are being taken for Disaster Prevention:
5.   Special Safety Drives are conducted periodically to assess the level of compliance of safety norms in each mine. Annual safety fortnight is also conducted once every year for the same purpose.
6.   Other safety measures initiated recently:
7. o Special training programme for safety officers and other key mining officials directly engaged in ensuring safety at mines by the  SIMTARS,  Australia  accredited executives.
8. o Several R&D projects on safety have also been initiated.
9. o Spreading knowledge and coal mine safety related information through publication of quarterly safety bulletin from CIL.

***

## Annex.-I

(i)  Company-wise, State-wise fatal accidents & fatalities in Coal India Limited (CIL) for last 3 years and current year (upto November) are as under:

| Company   | Operating State   |   Fatal Accidents |   Fatal Accidents |   Fatal Accidents |   Fatal Accidents |   Fatalities |   Fatalities |   Fatalities |   Fatalities |
|-----------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
| Company   | Operating State   |              2012 |              2013 |              2014 |              2015 |         2012 |         2013 |         2014 |         2015 |
| ECL       | WB &Jharkhand     |                11 |                 8 |                 6 |                 6 |           11 |            8 |            6 |            6 |
| BCCL      | Jharkhand& WB     |                12 |                10 |                 7 |                 6 |           12 |           13 |            7 |            6 |
| CCL       | Jharkhand         |                 5 |                 9 |                 5 |                 1 |            6 |            9 |            5 |            1 |
| NCL       | MP& UP            |                 7 |                 6 |                 6 |                 0 |            7 |            6 |            6 |            0 |
| WCL       | Maharashtra& MP   |                 9 |                 8 |                 9 |                 7 |           10 |            9 |           10 |            7 |
| SECL      | Chhatisgarh& MP   |                10 |                13 |                11 |                10 |           11 |           13 |           12 |           10 |
| MCL       | Odisha            |                 2 |                 1 |                 0 |                 3 |            2 |            1 |            0 |            3 |
| NEC       | Assam             |                 1 |                 0 |                 0 |                 0 |            1 |            0 |            0 |            0 |
| CIL       |                   |                57 |                55 |                44 |                33 |           60 |           59 |           46 |           33 |

(ii) Company-wise, State-wise serious accidents & serious injuries in CIL for last 3 years and current year (upto November):

| Company   | Operating State   |   Serious Accidents |   Serious Accidents |   Serious Accidents |   Serious Accidents |   Serious Injuries |   Serious Injuries |   Serious Injuries |   Serious Injuries |
|-----------|-------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|
| Company   | Operating State   |                2012 |                2013 |                2014 |                2015 |               2012 |               2013 |               2014 |               2015 |
| ECL       | WB &Jharkhand     |                  86 |                  61 |                  69 |                  36 |                 89 |                 62 |                 69 |                 37 |
| BCCL      | Jharkhand& WB     |                  28 |                  17 |                  17 |                   9 |                 30 |                 17 |                 17 |                  9 |
| CCL       | Jharkhand         |                   9 |                   7 |                   7 |                   5 |                  9 |                  7 |                  7 |                  5 |
| NCL       | MP& UP            |                   9 |                  17 |                   9 |                  18 |                  9 |                 17 |                  9 |                 19 |
| WCL       | Maharashtra& MP   |                  29 |                  45 |                  36 |                  15 |                 29 |                 47 |                 38 |                 18 |
| SECL      | Chhatisgarh& MP   |                  43 |                  39 |                  31 |                  32 |                 45 |                 40 |                 32 |                 34 |
| MCL       | Odisha            |                   8 |                  10 |                  13 |                   4 |                  8 |                 10 |                 13 |                  4 |
| NEC       | Assam             |                   0 |                   0 |                   1 |                   0 |                  0 |                  0 |                  1 |                  0 |
| CIL       | CIL               |                 212 |                 196 |                 183 |                 119 |                219 |                200 |                186 |                126 |

(iii) Cause-wise  break-up  fatalities  in  CIL  for  last  3  years  from  2012  to  2014  and current year  2015 (upto November):

| Comp any   | State                   |   Year |   Roof/sid e Falls |   Haulage, Conveyor & Winding |   Trucks, Dumpers & Wagons |   Non- transpo rt m/cs |   Explos ives |   Electric ity |   Fall of person / objects |   MISC. |   Total |
|------------|-------------------------|--------|--------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------|------------------------|---------------|----------------|----------------------------|---------|---------|
| ECL        | West Bengal& Jhakhand   |   2012 |                  3 |                             1 |                          3 |                      3 |             0 |              0 |                          0 |       1 |      11 |
| ECL        | West Bengal& Jhakhand   |   2013 |                  2 |                             1 |                          3 |                      0 |             0 |              0 |                          1 |       1 |       8 |
| ECL        | West Bengal& Jhakhand   |   2014 |                  2 |                             1 |                          0 |                      0 |             0 |              0 |                          1 |       2 |       6 |
| ECL        | West Bengal& Jhakhand   |   2015 |                  1 |                             1 |                          2 |                      0 |             0 |              0 |                          1 |       1 |       6 |
| BCCL       | Jharkhand & West Bengal |   2012 |                  0 |                             1 |                          5 |                      1 |             0 |              0 |                          3 |       2 |      12 |
| BCCL       | Jharkhand & West Bengal |   2013 |                  5 |                             0 |                          2 |                      1 |             0 |              0 |                          2 |       3 |      13 |
| BCCL       | Jharkhand & West Bengal |   2014 |                  0 |                             0 |                          1 |                      2 |             0 |              0 |                          3 |       1 |       7 |
| BCCL       | Jharkhand & West Bengal |   2015 |                  0 |                             1 |                          1 |                      1 |             0 |              1 |                          0 |       2 |       6 |
| CCL        | Jharkhand               |   2012 |                  0 |                             0 |                          2 |                      1 |             0 |              0 |                          1 |       2 |       6 |

|             |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   4 |   1 |   0 |   1 |   2 |   1 |   9 |
|-------------|--------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|             |   2014 |   1 |   0 |   1 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   5 |
|             |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|             |   2012 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   1 |   1 |   0 |   3 |   0 |   7 |
| MP& UP      |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   5 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   6 |
|             |   2014 |   0 |   0 |   4 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   0 |   6 |
|             |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
| Maharshtr a |   2012 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   1 |   1 |   2 |   4 |  10 |
|             |   2013 |   2 |   0 |   5 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   9 |
|             |   2014 |   1 |   0 |   6 |   3 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |  10 |
| & MP        |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   3 |   7 |
|             |   2012 |   3 |   1 |   3 |   1 |   0 |   2 |   0 |   1 |  11 |
| Chhatisgar  |   2013 |   2 |   1 |   3 |   4 |   0 |   1 |   2 |   0 |  13 |
| h& MP       |   2014 |   6 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   1 |   0 |   1 |   3 |  12 |
|             |   2015 |   3 |   0 |   1 |   2 |   0 |   2 |   1 |   1 |  10 |
|             |   2012 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   2 |
|             |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   1 |
| Odisha      |   2014 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
|             |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   2 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   3 |
|             |   2012 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   1 |
|             |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
| Assam       |   2014 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
|             |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
|             |   2012 |   7 |   3 |  17 |   8 |   2 |   4 |   9 |  10 |  60 |
|             |   2013 |  11 |   2 |  22 |   8 |   0 |   2 |   8 |   6 |  59 |
|             |   2014 |  10 |   1 |  12 |   8 |   1 |   0 |   8 |   6 |  46 |
|             |   2015 |   4 |   2 |   9 |   6 |   0 |   3 |   2 |   7 |  33 |

(iv) Company-wise, State-wise, cause-wise serious injuries in CIL during last 3 years and current year (upto November):

| Company   | State                  |   Year |   Roof/side Falls |   Haulage, Conveyor & Winding |   Trucks, Dumpers & Wagons |   Non- transport m/cs |   Explosives |   Electricity |   Others |   Total |
|-----------|------------------------|--------|-------------------|-------------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------|--------------|---------------|----------|---------|
| ECL       | West Bengal & Jhakhand |   2012 |                 5 |                             3 |                          3 |                     0 |            0 |             0 |       78 |      89 |
| ECL       |                        |   2013 |                 5 |                             1 |                          0 |                     0 |            0 |             0 |       61 |      67 |
| ECL       |                        |   2014 |                 3 |                             5 |                          0 |                     0 |            0 |             0 |       57 |      65 |
| ECL       |                        |   2015 |                 5 |                             1 |                          0 |                     1 |            0 |             0 |       30 |      37 |
| BCCL      | Jharkhand&             |   2012 |                 3 |                             2 |                          2 |                     1 |            0 |             0 |       22 |      30 |
| BCCL      |                        |   2013 |                 3 |                             1 |                          1 |                     1 |            0 |             0 |       12 |      18 |
| BCCL      | West Bengal            |   2014 |                 2 |                             0 |                          0 |                     0 |            0 |             0 |       14 |      16 |
| BCCL      |                        |   2015 |                 1 |                             0 |                          1 |                     0 |            0 |             0 |        7 |       9 |
| CCL       | Jharkhand              |   2012 |                 0 |                             1 |                          1 |                     1 |            0 |             0 |        6 |       9 |
| CCL       |                        |   2013 |                 0 |                             0 |                          1 |                     0 |            0 |             0 |        5 |       6 |
| CCL       |                        |   2014 |                 0 |                             1 |                          0 |                     0 |            0 |             1 |        4 |       6 |
| CCL       |                        |   2015 |                 0 |                             1 |                          1 |                     2 |            0 |             0 |        1 |       5 |

|     |   2012 |   0 |   0 |   4 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   4 |   9 |
|-----|--------|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|
|     |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   7 |   0 |   0 |   0 |  10 |  17 |
|     |   2014 |   0 |   0 |   3 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   6 |  10 |
|     |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   5 |   0 |   0 |   0 |  14 |  19 |
| WCL |   2012 |   5 |   2 |   0 |   1 |   0 |   0 |  21 |  29 |
| WCL |   2013 |   6 |   0 |   4 |   1 |   0 |   0 |  35 |  46 |
| WCL |   2014 |   4 |   2 |   3 |   1 |   1 |   0 |  27 |  38 |
| WCL |   2015 |   1 |   0 |   5 |   1 |   0 |   0 |  11 |  18 |
|     |   2012 |   8 |   4 |   2 |   2 |   0 |   0 |  29 |  45 |
|     |   2013 |  12 |   3 |   1 |   6 |   0 |   0 |  18 |  40 |
|     |   2014 |   4 |   1 |   1 |   6 |   0 |   0 |  20 |  32 |
|     |   2015 |   4 |   5 |   1 |   3 |   2 |   3 |  16 |  34 |
|     |   2012 |   0 |   2 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   5 |   8 |
|     |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   3 |   1 |   0 |   0 |   7 |  11 |
|     |   2014 |   1 |   0 |   5 |   2 |   0 |   0 |   3 |  11 |
|     |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   4 |   4 |
|     |   2012 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
|     |   2013 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
|     |   2014 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   1 |   1 |
|     |   2015 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |   0 |
|     |   2012 |  21 |  14 |  13 |   6 |   0 |   0 | 165 | 219 |
|     |   2013 |  26 |   5 |  17 |   9 |   0 |   0 | 143 | 200 |
|     |   2014 |  12 |   8 |  15 |  10 |   1 |   1 | 136 | 186 |
|     |   2015 |  11 |   7 |  13 |   7 |   2 |   3 |  83 | 126 |

(iv) Appropriate disciplinary actions  have been taken against those persons  who are held responsible in Internal Safety Organisation (ISO) inquiries on the basis of finding of the ISO enquiries  after due review and obtaining  required approval of  the competent authority. Details of disciplinary actions  taken against  those persons  who are  held  responsible  in ISO inquiries are as under:

| Year   |   ECL |   BCCL |   CCL |   NCL |   WCL |   SECL |   MCL |   NEC |   Total |
|--------|-------|--------|-------|-------|-------|--------|-------|-------|---------|
| 2012   |    16 |     11 |    12 |    22 |    33 |     32 |     5 |     1 |     132 |
| 2013   |    20 |     18 |    12 |     8 |    26 |     34 |     0 |     0 |     118 |
| 2014   |     7 |     12 |     9 |    23 |    45 |     37 |     0 |     0 |     133 |
| 2015   |     4 |      7 |     1 |     0 |    18 |     28 |     4 |     0 |      62 |
| Total  |    47 |     48 |    34 |    53 |   122 |    131 |     9 |     1 |     445 |

****