Posted on 28 Aug 2020
Provincial government authorities in Shandong, East China, have called for stringent checks on coal mines in the province to identify and close loopholes in safety procedures, Mysteel Global had learned.
The urgent measure was triggered by a fatal accident on August 20 at the Liangbaosi underground coal mine operated by state-owned Shandong Energy Group which killed seven miners and seriously injured another, according to a recent official notification by government safety and energy departments.
In total, 19 miners were working in the mine at the time of the accident, of whom 16 were injured and needed hospital treatment, according to a release by the local safety authority. A preliminary investigation showed that the accident was caused by a coal dust blast during mining activities.
Operations at the 3.6 million tonnes/year coal mine ceased immediately, according to the company, which added in a statement that punishment of those responsible for possible failings in safety procedures will be dependent on the findings of the accident inquiry.
Last Thursday’s was not the only incident at the Liangbaosi coal mine within the past year. Just last November, 11 coal miners were trapped because of a fire accident at the mine, though on that occasion there were no fatalities, as Mysteel Global had reported.
Other than the latest Liangbaosi coal mine accident, three others have occurred at Shandong mines this year, indicating that coal mine safety in the province remained serious, remonstrated Shandong’s safety and energy authorities in the notification.
“(These accidents indicate that) there are still loopholes in safety supervision at coal mines, and that stringent checks are not being conducted,” the notification reads, adding that the province’s three-year safety rectification campaign (2020-2022) has not been deeply and firmly embraced in some regions.
The notification ordered all cities in Shandong with coal mine operations to commence the checks. For those mines where safety concerns already exist, operations shall be halted, according to the notification. As of August 25, however, the impact of the safety blitz on production was still unclear.
Shandong is not a major raw coal-mining province, but it is a leading coking coal mining hub after Shanxi in North China, Mysteel Global noted. Over January-July, the province produced 65 million tonnes of raw coal, or 3% of China’s total.
Written by Sean Xie, xiepy@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com
Source:Mysteel Global
