Risk Management -- An Effective Tool for Accident Prevention in Mining Industry

Abstract

Indian Mining Industry is engaged in the exploitation of 65 major minerals and 22 minor minerals which contributes about Rs. 55,000 crores to the national exchequer with an aggregate production of more than 600 million tonnes and an average daily employment of one million workers. In India, the fatality rates of miner per 1000 person employed is of 0.33 for coal mining and 0.35 is for non-coal mining. The accident statistics in Indian Mining Industry shows that the fatalities rate per thousand persons employed in coal and non-coal mines has remained almost steady during last six decades whereas for the coal mines the same is for a period of around two decades. This Statistics is still quite high compared to the ideal situation of Zero Accident Potential (ZAP). There is a strong and stringent need for regulations of occupational health and safety of miner. The prevailing system of regulation, which is highly prescriptive, has the lacuna/drawbacks that it does not care all circumstances and it makes it more difficult to import successful safety practices from other countries. Safety is the responsibility of a particular person rather than developing a culture in which safety should be of everybody's responsibility, viz. employees, employers, manufacturers and others. Each and every organisation should therefore, develop a system of occupational safety and health management which would have the following elements: • Policy Implementation Organisation • Planning Evaluation/Assessment Action for improvement

This clearly indicates that the existing traditional system of administration of Mines Act and sub-ordinate legislation made there under through inspection, statutory and other investigation into fatal accidents and dangerous occurrences. The follow up measures arising out of the traditional approaches should ensure that the risk is kept within acceptable levels have reached its limit of effectiveness. A modern concept of "Risk Management and Emergency preparedness" has come up as an effective tool for accident prevention in Mining Industry. This paper deals with the basic concept of Risk Management and its objectives. It outlines the important steps in carrying out Risk Assessment and Risk Management in mining industry through the case study taken up at Talcher Area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited. It has also made an attempt to explain the 'Risk Management'- a modern concept as an effective tool of accident prevention.