President
Piotr Litwa, EngD
Piotr Litwa was born on 29 March 1964 in Katowice. In 1988, he graduated from the Faculty of Mining at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, majoring in mining and geology, with a specialization in deposit mining technology. In 1997, he completed a two-year postgraduate course in legal problems in mining at the University of Silesia, and, in 2000, he defended his doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Mining at the AGH University of Krakow, specializing in mining geomechanics.
From 1988, he worked at the Mining Works Company in Katowice as a mine operations supervisor. In 1992, he was hired by the District Mining Office in Katowice as a senior inspector, later superintendent. In 1995, he joined the State Mining Authority, working in the position of chief specialist and next as department vice-director. In 2000, he was appointed the director of the District Mining Office in Bytom, and later held the same position at the District Mining Office in Gliwice. He was the Vice President of the State Mining Authority from 14 January 2005, and then became its President on 1 November 2008. He held this position until 10 March 2014.
While serving in office as the President of the SMA, he actively participated in the development of the new Geological and Mining Law, including in the work of a dedicated parliamentary subcommittee. He initiated the introduction of a number of regulations in the section devoted to the tasks and competencies of mining supervisory authorities, which improved their efficiency after the GML was implemented in 2011. He also participated in work to prepare secondary legislation to the GML in the scope relating to mine operations and mine rescue.
From 2010 to 2013, he was chairman of the steering committee of the strategic research project entitled “Improvement of Work Safety in Mines,” developed by the National Centre for Research and Development. The project involved research on the natural hazards that are associated with underground mining operations, in particular monitoring and combating fire, methane and climate hazards, as well as tasks related to mine rescue. The project was initiated after the SMA President analyzed the conclusions of accident committees from 2000-2009, and aimed, among others, at introducing new regulations to the secondary legislation of the GML.
An important initiative taken during his term in office as President of the SMA was the retrofitting of mining offices with specialized measuring equipment - both portable and stationary - which is still used during inspection activities carried out by mining offices. Previously, they did not have such instruments at their disposal, making them dependent on the inspected entities, which risked biasing the results of the conducted inspections.
Another important aspect was the widespread promotion and implementation of good health and safety practices. Thanks to the establishment of cooperation with the National Health Fund, additional funds for preventive activities have been raised to this day. They are used to develop and distribute prevention brochures and leaflets, and to create film and animation scripts based on post-accident findings, among other things.
An important event took place in 2011, when the President of the SMA initiated the establishment of a so-called “helpline”, which is a hotline for reporting information on safety and environmental risks at mining facilities. Meanwhile, in the area concerning the negative impact of mining on the environment, he commissioned work to launch a nationwide inventory of mine workings having a connection to the surface and thus posing a potential threat of sinkholes. This was yet another task which was financed by effectively obtaining external funds.
On 12 March 2014, he was appointed the Silesian Voivode, and held this function until 8 December 2015.
He has been involved in research and teaching for many years. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the Alumni Association of the Silesian University of Technology. He conducted classes for university students and postgraduate studies at the Central Mining Institute - National Research Institute in Katowice, the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice and the AGH University in Krakow. In June 2018, he was appointed the Vice-Chancellor for Training at the Academy of Silesia in Katowice, and, in 2019, he took office as Chancellor.
From 9 December 2019, he worked as a chief research and technical specialist in the Department of Mining Technology, Rock Bursts and Risk Assessment, at the GIG National Research Institute in Katowice. On 5 June 2024, he was appointed the President of the State Mining Authority by the Prime Minister.
He is the author of many scientific publications on the subject of safety in mining. He has repeatedly been invited to join numerous committees established by the President of the SMA, whose task was to determine the circumstances and causes of dangerous events and collective accidents at mining plants, such as in connection with the methane and coal dust explosion at KWK Halemba in Ruda Śląska on 21 November 2006, or the rock burst at KWK Borynia-Zofiówka Ruch Zofiówka in Jastrzębie-Zdrój, which occurred on 23 April 2022.
He participates in the work of the Mining Commission of the Katowice Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Commission for the Conservation of Mining Areas of the Katowice Branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Piotr Litwa holds the rank of general director of mining.