What Safeguards Are in Place for Mine Accidents?

At 15:00 on February 14, 2005, a particularly serious gas explosion accident occurred in the Sunjiawan Coal Mine Haizhou shaft of Liaoning Fuxin Mining (Group) Co., Ltd., which killed 214 people, injured 30 people, and caused direct economic losses of 49.889 million yuan. After the accident, an investigation team was established by the State Council. It was determined that the accident was a liability accident and 33 persons responsible for the accident were dealt with.

Sunjiawan mine disaster

Sunjiawan, a subsidiary of Fuxin Mining Group

Xinhuanet, Fuxin, February 15th (Reporter Feng Lei) At 15:03 on February 14th, a major gas accident occurred at the Sunjiawan Coal Mine of Fuxin Mining Group Corporation. By the time of the press at 5pm on the 15th, the number of victims increased. Of the 203 people, 13 are still missing and another 22 were injured and have been sent to hospital for treatment.

Zhang Yunfu, deputy general manager of Fukuang Group Corporation, introduced that the accident occurred at the 3316 outer airway tunneling face of Sunjiawan Coal Mine. On February 14th, the shift was in normal operation at Sunjiawan Coal Mine. Sudden occurrence of mining quake on the working face, and the detection of ground gas ventilation suddenly did not show. According to the relevant ground personnel at the time, there was a clear sense of quake at 14:50. By 15:03, Ning Haitao, a 242 underground mining worker, reported in the underground that there was a headwind on 242. After that, the underground -357 dispatched the report,- Alley 357 is full of smoke.

After the accident, the relevant departments immediately organized rescue work. At 14:30 on the 14th, the accident headquarters was set up, and three rescue teams immediately entered the well to investigate the situation in the disaster area and find personnel.

It is understood that the design capacity of Sunjiawan Coal Mine is 1.5 million tons per year. ^[3]

Xinhua News Agency, Shenyang, February 22 (Reporter Yao Jianfeng) A reporter was informed at the fourth press conference of the "2 · 14" oversized gas explosion accident at the Sunjiawan Coal Mine Haizhou Mine in Fuxin Mining Group held in Shenyang on the afternoon of the 22nd. At 23:55 on the 21st, the body of the 214th dead miner was searched and rescued underground. The underground search and rescue work for the mine disaster was all over, and the aftercare work was still in an orderly and tense manner.

According to Zhou Liyuan, a spokesperson and deputy secretary-general of the Liaoning Provincial Government, currently, 208 of the 214 mine victims were claimed, 194 were processed, and 203 families of the victims signed compensation agreements, and 146 households have gone smoothly. Receive compensation. In addition, 30 wounded persons continued to be treated, 29 of them tended to recover, and one was more seriously injured. ^[9]

After the accident, the Party Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to it. General Secretary Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao,

Liaoning Province has given Fuxin Mining Group's chairman and general manager Liang Jinfa an administrative resignation, revocation of the party's office, and removed its chairman in accordance with the procedures; 4 of the remaining 31 persons responsible for the accident were transferred to the judicial organs, 27 Give administrative sanctions separately.

The State Council held a special meeting on May 11, 2005. It was decided at the meeting that Liu Guoqiang, the deputy governor of Liaoning Province, who was in charge of the leadership, was given an administrative penalty, and instructed the Liaoning Provincial People's Government to make a written inspection to the State Council. ^[10]

A gas explosion that shook the earth's crust killed 214 lives. At 3 pm on February 14, 2005, the Sunjiawan Coal Mine of Liaoning Fuxin Mining Group Corporation, the largest coal mine disaster in the Republic in the past 50 years, appeared like a ghost. At the moment of the loud noise, the joy of the Spring Festival came to an end; at the moment of the loud noise, the hearts of more than 200 families suddenly became cold; at the moment of the loud noise, tears could not express the deepest pain; At the moment of resounding, the eyes of China and the world are questioning the meaning of life. Mr. Lu Xun said that we must "dare to face the bleak life and dare to face the dripping blood." 214 cold bodies, such a shocking! The pain of more than 200 families losing their sons and fathers has permeated the sky above Sunjiawan.

After the Sunjiawan Coal Mine accident, several disasters occurred in coal mines across the country. As of the time of the author's revision (March 18, 2005), the latest accident was: a large gas explosion occurred in Fengjie County, Chongqing City on March 17, killing 19 people (according to Xinhuanet, Chongqing, March 18).

In 2004, a total of 6,027 people died in coal mine accidents in China.

Like the families of the miners who were killed, we must face such bleakness and dripping. But what do we have to face?

It is those dark consciences that are as black as coal for the profiteering regardless of the miners' life and death;

The "official standard" and corruption of some local officials;

It is the administrative attitude and administrative capacity of local governments and their related law enforcement agencies.

We must also face:

Problems existing in the technical level of coal mine production in China;

A deeper level of China's coal mine operating mechanism;

Strategic issues such as the modernization of the energy industry and national energy needs.

The tears were blurred, and Lingtai should be more clear: the sorrow and dripping of the ghost's claw that caused the mine disaster would not be completely cut off.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to coal mine accidents. According to a Xinhua News Agency report, there were 198 important instructions issued by senior leaders of the central government on production safety in 2004. In order to strengthen the legal system for production safety, in 2004, the state promulgated 1 regulation, 15 departmental regulations, 5 safety industry standards, and more than 70 regulatory documents. Less than a month ago, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council hosted an executive meeting of the State Council to study and strengthen coal mine safety production work, and put forward five requirements. This shows that our government attaches great importance to coal mine safety production.

Why do mine disasters occur with high attention? Optimistic market conditions and high profit stimulus have led to the phenomenon of over-design capacity production and frequent "capacity expansion and transformation" in the coal industry. Various coal mines, including state-owned, local, and individual, have challenged the "limit" of production capacity, not only causing a large number of resources Waste and accelerated depletion have become the "culprit" of frequent coal mine safety accidents.

According to statistics, of the 27 coal-producing provinces and regions in the country, 20 provinces and regions have overproduced, of which 19 provinces and regions have overproduced by more than 10%, and Fujian, Shaanxi and Beijing have overproduced by over 50%. Relevant statistics show that from 2001 to 2003, the cumulative increase in the country's raw coal production reached 738 million tons, a cumulative increase of nearly 74%. Among them, the output growth achieved in the past two years is based to a large extent on the supercapacity production of various coal mines. A survey conducted by the Research Center of the State Administration of Work Safety (State Administration of Coal Mine Safety) and the China Coal Industry Development Research Center: In 2003, China s raw coal production was 1.728 billion tons (1.667 billion tons of the National Bureau of Statistics) ; By the end of 2003, a total of 2,090 mines (including open-pit mines) with production safety guarantee capabilities were reported nationwide, with a production capacity of about 1.1 billion tons per year. In other words, at least 628 million tons of raw coal output in 2003 were not guaranteed. One-third of the output is without safety guarantees, can there be no accident?

There are three main sources of production without safe production guarantees: first, the supercapacity production part of state-owned coal mines, which was about 76.95 million tons that year, mainly from eastern China and Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia; second, incapable coal mines, including aging and scrap mines, The closure of bankrupt mines and small mines managed by large mines produced 65 million tons of coal in that year; the third was small township coal mines with a total of more than 24,000 sites and a production of more than 600 million tons that year.

Why do you desperately overproduce knowing that safe production cannot be guaranteed? The answer is obvious: high profits lead to interest. Coal prices have soared all the way. In September, raw coal rose by as much as 40%, and the arrival of the heating season has made the price of coal that had been operating at a high price even more alarming. Coal prices have been rising all the way, and the coal industry has continued to be in the seller's market, which has stimulated the super-capacity production of coal mines. A person familiar with the mine pointed out that when the coal market is in a good situation, overproduction is considered a good thing from the top down, and it is a great contribution. As for whether the conditions of this mine are suitable for overproduction, what is the safety risk of overproduction, and what scope should the overproduction be controlled, many cadres do not understand, and workers are even more unclear. Production with super power supply capacity will lead to increased power load, which may easily cause power outages, fires and damage to equipment. After a power outage, gas explosion and underground fires are more likely to occur. Production with super ventilation capacity may easily cause insufficient underground air volume and directly affect underground air quality. It affects the physical health of underground operators, and the increase in mining intensity can easily cause gas accumulation and gas explosion accidents; the production of super-drainage capacity will increase the amount of water flowing downhole. If the drainage capacity fails to meet the requirements, it may be possible Caused flooding accidents; super-lifting, production with transport capacity, prone to mechanical accidents, such as winch damage, wire rope breaks, sports cars and other accidents.

Slogans such as "Safety is greater than heaven" and "Miner's life is greater than heaven" are impressively displayed on the walls of each mine, but the actual implementation is another matter. The pursuit of excess profits is the "first priority". Several severe and severe mine accidents involving more than 100 people occurred in large state-owned coal mines nationwide. On February 18th, at the symposium on safety production of the leaders of the five major coal groups and local coal mining enterprises with an annual output of more than 900,000 tons held in Shanxi, the chief executives of the major groups revisited the major accidents that occurred in the country and the province and reached consensus. Conclusion: State-owned coal mines are susceptible to safety paralysis. The main reason is that key state-owned coal mines have undergone reform and reorganization, implemented large companies and large group strategies, and the scale of enterprises has expanded rapidly, but the expansion of the extension has not brought a corresponding change in connotation. However, the level of enterprise management has not improved much. The increase in management levels easily distort information. The decision-making master's brain does not feel good about the signals transmitted by peripheral nerves, which creates luck. A "paralysis" sums up all the problems, isn't it superficial? In fact, the causes and serious consequences of the mine disaster are more clear to everyone than anybody, and they seem to have hidden meanings. As far as he is concerned, he just happens to have "paralysis" as a shield. Finally, he has an account and can be considered to bear it. Some indirect responsibilities will not be lost because of "smaller than".

The Daping Mine, the Pingdingshan Mine, the Pengzhou Mine, the Chenjiashan Mine, and the Sunjiawan Mine ... Severe mega-mines have followed, and "paralysis" is the crux? On April 6, 2001, a large gas explosion occurred in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine, killing 38 people; on April 13, 2004, a poisoning incident occurred in the staff canteen of the Chenjiashan Coal Mine, and 74 people were poisoned by food; in July 2004, a tunnel in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine occurred One collided with a mine truck killed one person; On November 28, 2004, a catastrophic gas explosion in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine killed 166 people. The Chenjiashan Coal Mine accident occurred one after another. "Paralysis" can only be a self-deceptive statement! What is even more puzzling is that on November 22, 2004, a fire phenomenon was found in the working face of the fully mechanized mining face of the Chenjiashan Mine, but production did not stop! A local government official said frankly: "The accident only shows that there is a problem with the management of the mine, and the interests of the miners are not really put in the most important place."

Another phenomenon that I have to ponder is the indifference to life and the extremely disrespectful of the legal society. Concealed the gas explosion accident at Hongxing Coal Mine in Kaiping Town, Tangshan City, concealed the accident twice a year at Wu'an Desheng Coal Mine, concealed the confusion of five collective iron mines in Baita Town, Shahe City, and Guangxi s South "Dan incident" and so on, why does the concealment appear to have formed the "normal"? Who gave the "green light" for concealment? Owners of coal mines are eager to smoke, regardless of the miners' life and death, but if there is no "protective umbrella", why do they have the courage to this day? Frequent mine accidents and malicious concealment can be related to the corruption of some local officials?

On the day of the Sunjiawan mine disaster, the Party Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to it. Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Huang Ju, and other central leaders made important instructions. On the 17th, the State Council s Sunjiawan mine disaster investigation team was set up to investigate the cause and investigate responsibilities. Who is responsible for the lives that coal miners are destined to lose? What kind of responsibility? 214 lives, who can bear this responsibility? "Breakthrough" production. In addition to the lives of the miners who died in Sunjiawan, who is responsible for the 6,000 lives that die each year in the country?

At the end of 2004, Shanxi, a major coal province, introduced new regulations: starting from December 1 of that year, the compensation for the death of a person due to a coal mine accident must not be less than 200,000 yuan. This is currently the highest standard of compensation for deaths in domestic coal mine accidents, and there has been strong response from all walks of life. High compensation is an economic compensation and spiritual comfort to the families and families of the victims. In addition, this provision can also promote coal mine owners to increase safety investment to a certain extent. Shanxi's approach is a good measure, but it is by no means a one-time operation, and the prospect cannot be too optimistic. According to general economic laws, when the thresholds of laws and rules are set high, the desire for profit will drive people to instinctively bypass the gates and high walls by various means, looking for legal, institutional, and institutional voids to reduce costs. purpose. Increasing the amount of compensation may lead to further intensification of accident concealment. If this is the case, the higher the threshold for compensation, the more it will be rendered useless. The high amount of compensation is a concrete manifestation of the people-centered thinking put forward by the central government. However, to make the compensation plan work, we must strengthen the "people-oriented" thinking more clearly. In the event of an accident, compensation for the dead must be the most rigid. First requirement. Everything else, such as the fate of enterprises and the local economy, cannot be a reason or justification for obstructing compensation. After all, the final test is the administrative attitude and ability of local governments and their related law enforcement agencies.

We must think further: Is 200,000 yuan equivalent to the value of a miner's life? Can compensation for 200,000 yuan death be tightened to the "safety valve" of a coal mine?

It's time for pain and pain, and to cut off the ghost's claws that caused the mine disaster, we must first cut off the desire to smoke the heart and ignore life. In addition, strengthen the punishment of the person responsible for the accident and severely punish corruption, both of which must be tough!

There are many comprehensive factors in the occurrence of mining accidents, and we should analyze them more rationally. At a shallow level, it is a technical problem in the field of coal production in China. According to statistics from Xinhua News Agency: China s coal mines produce an average of 321 tons of coal per person per year, and the overall efficiency is only 2.2% in the United States and 8.1% in South Africa. The death rate per million tons is 100 times that in the United States and 30 times that in South Africa. The fact that the current coal mine employees have a low overall cultural quality and serious violations of regulations and rules during the process of production safety are facts before us. Coal mine safety production is important to rely on technology to solve the problem. Gas explosion is caused by insufficient underground ventilation and high gas concentration. Increasing the number of ventilation shafts can effectively solve the problem of underground ventilation. For historical reasons, the state's debts for coal mine safety investment are very huge. Only state-owned key coal mines have debts of about 50 billion yuan in terms of safety engineering, safety equipment and safety facilities. Liang Jiayu, deputy director of the State Administration of Work Safety, revealed to the society that the state will strive to repay the state-owned coal mine safety debt in three years.

From a deeper perspective, the frequent occurrence of mining disasters reveals three strategic issues of China's coal mine operating mechanism, how the new industrialization of the energy industry, and national energy demand. It is urgent to rationalize the coal mine operating system. In 2004, China's raw coal output ranked first in the world, but with it, the number of coal mine deaths in China has far exceeded the total number of coal mine deaths in other coal-producing countries in the world! In order to pursue excess profits, some operators use the method of killing chickens and eggs, and the destruction of resources and the life and death of miners are irrelevant to them. Without fundamentally reforming the coal mine operating mechanism, the specter of mine disasters will still surface from time to time. The frequent occurrence of mining accidents involves the issue of how the new energy industrialization of China's energy industry. Experts point out that key state-owned coal mines in China have generally reached the "old age" at the age of 50 and entered the peak period of aging and scrapping. However, due to the shortage of coal mine energy, these old state-owned coal mines still bear heavy production tasks. The Sunjiawan Coal Mine is a typical old coal mine. However, in 2003, the slogan Small mines must have great achievements was put forward. The coal production exceeded the design capacity of 1.5 million tons per year. On the one hand, the general simplicity of the safety facilities and the serious backwardness of the technology; on the other hand, "breakthrough" production in a severe form has laid the root cause for this vicious mining accident. The phenomenon of over-limit mining, random mining, high-density mining and overload management with safety and ecological protection in mind should be firmly eliminated. Starting from the new industrialization concept of the energy industry, it is required to maintain a high degree of caution in energy development and implement protective limited development. At the same time, the establishment of life-first energy enterprise production principles, suspension of production improvement for enterprises that fail to meet modern safety production standards. Behind the frequent occurrence of mining accidents is that the economic development of China's energy needs can not be met and the alarm is frequently raised. China's coal production ranks first in the world, and coal consumption accounts for 74% of total energy. According to reports, for every US $ 1 of GDP increase, China's energy consumption is three times the world average, the United States' 4.7 times, Germany's 7.7 times, and Japan's 11.5 times. If there is no new breakthrough in China's energy technology, the energy situation will continue, and the situation of coal mines will not be optimistic. It is the effective method to realize the control of mining disasters, change the mode of economic growth, and improve energy efficiency. ^[13] (Wang Qingping)