Report on safety in mining

An important compendium of knowledge on safety in mining is now available on the State Mining Authority's website under the "Health and Safety in Mining" tab. The report entitled “Assessment of occupational safety, mine rescue and general safety in connection with mining and geological activities in 2023” is addressed to all organs and entities involved in the broadly understood mining sector.

The publication is cyclical and contains an assessment of the state of general safety related to mining operations, the state of work safety in mining, the state of recognition of and combating hazards in mining facilities, the state of mine rescue and other issues related to mining operations, as well as the adopted priorities for 2024.

This document is an implementation of Article 166(1)(8) of Act of 9 June 2011 - Geological and Mining Law.

The safety assessment for 2023 is presented against the data from 2019. Accidents occurring in coal mining had the greatest impact on the total accident rate in the years 2019-2023. They accounted for 86.9% of all accidents in mining. In the analyzed period, the trends related to accidents in total mining and in coal mining coincide (a decrease in the number of accidents, compared to the previous year in 2020, and increases in the following years 2021-2023).

Copper-ore mining saw a marked decrease in total accident rates between 2019 and 2022, from 327 accidents which occurred in 2019 to 174 accidents in 2022. In contrast, 2023 saw an increase in the total to 208 accidents.

The years 2019-2021 brought a downward trend for the total number of fatal and severe accidents (from 34 accidents occurring in 2019 to 22 in 2021). In 2022, there was an increase in the total number of fatal and serious accidents (49 accidents, including 33 that occurred in connection with the disasters at JSW S.A. KWK "Pniówek" and at JSW S.A. KWK "Borynia-Zofiówka" Ruch "Zofiówka"); while in 2023, the number of fatal and serious accidents approached that recorded in 2021 (23 accidents recorded).

Due to the dangers of underground mining, in 2023 compared to 2022:

• there was an increase in the number of tensional release events (25 tensional releases in 2023, which resulted in five accidents, compared to 18 tensional releases in 2022, which caused 12 accidents);
• the number of rock bursts remained the same (three rock bursts were recorded in both years, causing 15 accidents);
• the number of fires decreased (12 fires in 2023 vs. 16 in 2022 - no one was injured as a result of these fires);
• the number of methane hazard incidents decreased (1 incident in 2023, in which no one was injured, compared to 4 incidents in 2022, which resulted in 53 workers being injured).

The year 2023 brought an increase in the number of accidents related to the risk of rockfall from the roof and/or walls of underground mines - from 174 accidents in 2022 (including two fatalities and one severe accident) to 215 accidents in 2023 (including two fatalities and three severe accidents).

The study also includes information on occupational diseases specific to the mining industry. In 2019-2023, a total of 1825 such cases were reported across the entire mining industry, of which pneumoconiosis was dominant (1668 cases, or more than 90 percent of all occupational diseases in mining). In terms of the number of cases of pneumoconiosis diagnosed during the period under review, the year 2023 was the most unfavorable, as 443 cases of the disease were reported (92 more cases than 2022). An increase in the number of pneumoconiosis (mainly asbestos-related) was confirmed in recent years in former employees of Walbrzych mines (173 cases in 2023, vs. 120 cases in 2022), which led to a significant increase in the number of occupational diseases in mining in 2023. The vast majority of the pneumoconiosis cases registered in 2023, as in previous years, involved former mine employees - retirees. It is alarming that the number of pneumoconiosis cases among active miners has increased almost fivefold, i.e. from 5 to 24 cases, over a four-year period (2020-2023).

Detailed information on the state of OSH in mining for 2023 can be found in the full version of the study - available for download from the website of the State Mining Authority at: https://www.wug.gov.pl/bhp/stan_bhp_w_gornictwie.

Safety reports covering previous years can be also found there.