Bezpieczeństwo Pracy i Ochrona Środowiska w Górnictwie Number 05/2024

The publication presents amendments in the regulations concerning mining qualifications and training in mining, starting from 1930, to the current legal status. The article describes also the impact of regulations on mining qualifications and training on the state of safety in mining. Unfortunately, practice has shown that the changes initiated in 2011 and next continued in 2015, consisting in lowering the requirements for mining qualifications and excluding a significant part of training units from mining authorities control, caused a deterioration in the state of safety in mining, especially in opencast mining plants. There had been negatively assessed particularly the solution adopted in opencast and borehole mining plants, in which the employer decided about the necessary qualifications of traffic supervisor and the knowledge of people employed in such positions was not verified as part of the state examination. There was inadequate also a solution in which the employer checked the fulfilment of qualifications and entrusted the performance of activities in the management and supervision of certain departments of the mining plant's operation. Therefore, it was necessary to return to verification of the qualifications as a part of state examination conducted by the mining authority. Practice has also shown that it is expedient to restore the possibility of exercising full control by mining authorities over the training of managers and supervisors of operation and persons performing specialist activities in the operation of a mining plant.

The article presents the changes introduced by the recent amendment to the Geological and Mining Law in the field of qualifications in mining. Transitional provisions were discussed, which for a period of 5 years from the entry into force of the amendment, i.e. until 27 October 2028, provide for the possibility of continuing to perform activities that have been entrusted by the employer to management and supervision persons in the mining plant on the basis of the repealed Article 58(7)(1) of the Geological and Mining Law. The author analyses what situations are covered by the transitional provision, how to understand the entrustment of activities by the employer in the repealed provisions and how to approach the qualifications entrusted by service companies, as well as what awaits persons who have been entrusted with the activities after the lapse of the indicated 5 years from the amendment.

In consequence of European Union’s policies, and particularly the European Green Deal, Poland has been urged to phase out all coal mining. Spółka Restrukturyzacji Kopalń S.A. (The Mine Restructuring Company) is protecting the active mines neighboring with liquidated mines against water threats, by pumping out 100 million m3 of water from liquidated mines a year. This involves the high cost of purchasing ca. 300 GWh of electricity a year. The company has been cutting its operating costs, among others, by building its own RES facilities, including hydrogenerators. The first of them, utilizing a 225-meter water drop in the shaft, was built in 2023 in the “Boże Dary” Stationary Pump Station. The generator is capable of producing ca. 3.18 MWh of electricity a day. According to a completed feasibility analysis, the return on investment period is 6.41 years. Apart from a quick return on investment, the system in question will partially cover the pump house’s energy demand with “green” energy, thus improving the safety of energy supplies.