The Ministry of Coal on 1st December 2021, has taken suitable actions or measures as per the provisions of the Mines Act, 1952 to prevent recurrence of accidents or dangerous occurrences in coal mines. Inquiries into all fatal accidents, major serious accidents, and dangerous occurrences are conducted by Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) officers to find out the causes and circumstances leading to the accidents/incidents in coal mines. As per the findings of the enquiries, the following measures has been taken:
- Based on the analysis, technical circulars are issued from time to time to the industry.
- National Conference on Safety in Mines (NSC), a national level tripartite forum is organized periodically in which detailed deliberations on prevention of mine accidents and improving safety are made and the recommendations of NSC, are disseminated in the form of circulars and are reviewed periodically by different coal producing companies.
- Scientific studies are carried out with the help of reputed institutes/scientific bodies to find out safe working culture.
- Follow-up inspections are made periodically based on risk analysis.
- Improvement notices under section 22A of the Mines Act, 1952 are issued.
- Penal actions/prosecution against the persons/officials found responsible for the accidents based on the enquiry findings of the report.
- Coal Mines Regulations, 2017 has been enforced, which provides for risk based safety Management Plan (SMP) and preparation of safe Operating Procedure (SOPS).
