Opinion - Editorials   

Pay more attention to mine safety

The proposition "accidents do not happen, they are caused" seems to be particularly true of mining industry. The explosion in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd.'s mine in the Jharia fields, which took a toll of about 50 lives, is a grim reminder of how much more requires to be done to eliminate hazards in mining. This despite the progress made on the safety front in the decades after nationalisation of coal mines and the fact that India's recent record in this area is better than that of several other coal-producing countries. Though mining is by its nature hazardous, underground coal mining has been particularly so, taking a huge toll in terms of human lives lost, injuries inflicted, and occupational diseases caused. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), mining employs 0.4 per cent of the global workforce, but accounts for three per cent of all fatal accidents at work. The Jharia mishap has come after the mid-June 2005 accident in the Suanda colliery in Hazaribagh, in which about 15 miners got trapped. It is in view of the continuing risks posed by coal mining that the ILO adopted Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines in 1995. India has not ratified this convention, although it has put in place laws, regulations, and institutional structures that accord with almost all its provisions. The convention should be considered for adoption, especially at a time when the country plans to expand the area under coal mining and invite domestic and foreign investment.

Aside from dealing with technical aspects such as wall collapses, flooding, and gas explosion, there is a need for reviewing the duality in mining regulation from the point of view of safety. Minerals (unless they are offshore) are the property of State governments, but the power of regulation and development is vested with the Centre (Ministry of Mines). The Directorate-General of Mines Safety (DGMS), Dhanbad, is an organisation under the Union Labour Ministry, while powers of granting commercial rights rest with the State governments. To prevent recurrence of accidents, any lags in mining technology and rescue equipment, services, and training need to be identified. It is doubtful if the mining industry has taken advantage of the latest advances in wireless communication technology, instead of relying on the conventional one-way, wired CDS signalling and telephone system, for regular monitoring of mine operations and expediting rescue efforts in the case of accidents. It is not a happy situation when the DGMS says that "keeping in mind [the] limited resources available by way of inspecting officers, it is humanly impossible for them to ensure compliance [with safety requirements] by managements at all times and all work places." One of the most important elements of a safety drive must be ensuring that provisions for worker participation and motivation are enforced both in letter and spirit. In this task, the unions, as much as the managements, bear a major responsibility.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Mr. Bush's delusional world
Pay more attention to mine safety
Ensuring security in the age of global terror
The U.S. and its fading alliance in East Asia
Corrections and clarifications
Wounds that have yet to heal
Backing away from the badlands?
On 9/11 & Gandhi
Malegaon blasts
Congratulations

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu