Lin Baiquan, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of China University of Mining and Technology In China's energy industry, coal accounts for about 70% of China's primary energy production and consumption structure, and is expected to account for more than 50% by 2050. Therefore, coal will continue to be the main energy source in China for a considerable period of time. Currently, the rapid growth of China's economy has put forward higher requirements for the development of the coal industry. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen safety production and ensure the sustainable, stable, and healthy development of the coal industry

The current situation of coal mine safety production

95% of coal mining in China is carried out underground.

. Coal mine accidents account for 72.8% to 89.6% of major accidents involving more than 10 deaths in industrial and mining enterprises (2002-2005); Gas accidents account for 71% of the fatalities in a coal mining enterprise accident that resulted in more than 10 fatalities. The major disasters and accidents faced by coal mines are quite severe, resulting in extremely heavy losses. Due to the high number of coal mine accidents and deaths, the mortality rate of one million tons in China's coal mines has remained high. Especially the frequent occurrence of major and catastrophic gas (coal dust) disasters in coal mines not only causes huge losses to national property and citizen lives, but also seriously affects China's international reputation In fact, the occurrence of these gas accidents is not accidental, it is a concentrated exposure of problems in the past coal mine production process, involving many aspects. There are both natural factors, insufficient investment in technology and research, as well as human factors, as well as national systems, management, economic policies, traditional social concepts, and the cultural quality of coal mining enterprises

The main problems in coal mine production

The natural occurrence conditions of coal seams in China are complex and variable, and there are many factors that affect coal mine safety production, which are objective factors causing accidents.

. Most of the coal seams mined in China have high gas content, low permeability, and complex geological structures, making it difficult to extract gas before mining. However, during mining, the amount of gas released is large. In addition, the complex geological conditions of the coal seams, the expansion of mining scale, and the increase in the degree of mining reduction have led to more complex and variable changes in the stress field, coal rock fracture field, and gas flow field induced by mining. Under certain conditions, Easy to induce coal and gas outbursts and sudden gas outbursts, leading to gas accidents. Under the current energy supply conditions, it is impossible to take measures to shut down high gas mines and gas outburst mines. Therefore, we can only independently develop corresponding safety technologies to ensure the safety production of high gas mines and gas outburst mines

Inaccurate technical positioning of coal mining enterprises is a subjective factor

For a long time, coal mining has been regarded as a labor-intensive industry with low technical level and relatively low requirements in people's minds. Therefore, for a long time, there has been insufficient technology investment, poor equipment level, a shortage of industrial technical talents, and low labor efficiency.

. Add"a; Thousands of soldiers and horses; The team is placed in a highly hazardous working environment, and in the event of gas (coal dust) explosions, mine fires, and other accidents, it is easy to cause heavy losses and even the destruction of the entire mine However, coal mines in advanced countries such as the United States and Australia have achieved high mechanization, with fewer underground workers, a simple layout of tunnels, a large area of tunnels, and smooth airflow. Once a disaster occurs, it is easy to evacuate and there are fewer casualties. In addition, personnel working underground in coal mines are also a source of danger in a sense. Once illegal operations occur (intentionally or unintentionally), it may lead to accidents. So for high-risk industries, mechanization should be maximized and personnel should be minimized as much as possible. This has not been widely recognized in society for a long time. Therefore, it is suggested that the country should include coal mines in high-risk industries, provide necessary investment, establish a coal mining industry access system, and even require the improvement of technical equipment level and labor productivity in the design of new mines Most coal mines have low technical levels, low employee quality, and a large shortage of engineering and technical personnel, making it difficult to adapt to the requirements of high-risk environments. Due to the low labor productivity of coal mines, the wage income gap in the entire industry ranks second to last among more than 20 industries in the country. In addition, the work is dangerous, the working environment is harsh, the labor intensity is high, and the working hours are long. This has led to a significant loss of talent, resulting in the emergence of"a; There is a shortage of engineering, technical, and management talents, and there are few frontline talents willing to work in coal mines for a long time; The phenomenon of Weak basic work and insufficient safety technology equipment are objective realities. In recent years, with the country's attention and investment in coal mine safety, there has been significant improvement and enhancement in mine safety equipment. However, there are still many mine safety facilities that do not meet the requirements. Therefore, it is recommended to further increase investment in coal mine safety and improve the safety production situation of coal mines The imperfect tax system in coal mines is an objective reality. In our impression, during the tax reform, a 17% value-added tax was uniformly adopted. Due to coal being a primary product, different from mechanical and electrical products, with no added value and being a raw material product, this is clearly not applicable, so the tax rate has been reduced by three to four percentage points. But the author believes that it is not enough and the tax rate should be further lowered. In addition, in order to protect state-owned resources and reduce pollution caused by resource extraction, we believe that resource and environmental protection fees should be levied on coal to compensate for national investment. The charging standards should vary based on the natural geographical environment, the quality of coal, and the coal mining system (state-owned, collective, and individual), in order to reflect the principle of relative fairness under market economy conditions and improve resource recovery rates. For high gas mines, the reduced taxes and fees should be invested in safety and environmental protection purposes

Countermeasures and Measures to be Taken

Currently, although the situation of coal mine safety production is severe, there are also many favorable conditions: a technical team trained in the past few decades of the founding of the People's Republic of China, multiple revised coal mine safety regulations and detailed rules for preventing and controlling coal and gas outbursts, specialized coal mine safety research institutions and relevant colleges and universities;

; Many large coal mining enterprises also have their own gas prevention and control institutions, so it can be said that it is completely possible to control the frequency of gas accidents China has both Shenhua Group, which has the world's advanced production level, and Huainan and Pingdingshan Coal Industry Group, which have achieved safe production in the dangerous conditions of high gas and gas outburst for many years. The technology and management experience of these enterprises are very valuable for us to do a good job in coal mine safety production. In order to reverse the current situation of coal mine safety production, it is recommended to take the following countermeasures and measures:

Strengthen employee training, improve the quality of employees, and reduce unsafe behavior Efforts should be intensified to promote examples, experiences, and lessons learned from recent disasters and accidents, in order to improve the quality and level of frontline leaders, enhance their foresight for disasters and accidents, and enhance their ability to respond and handle accidents. For difficult majors in the field of geology and mining, the state provides scholarships and signs agreements with students on the length of work experience in coal mining enterprises after graduation. At the same time, improve the treatment of technical personnel working in coal mines, establish a minimum wage system for coal mining industry employees, improve their working environment, and ensure that there are successors in coal mines Strengthen scientific research efforts, improve safety production levels, and establish an essential safety production system China's safety management level is constantly strengthening, and the level of coal mining technology is constantly improving. However, major gas accidents in coal mines still occur from time to time. The direct cause of these accidents is the complexity of coal seam gas enrichment conditions in China, and the existing safety technologies and theoretical foundations are no longer able to meet the urgent needs of safe and efficient production in coal mines. Therefore, further efforts should be made to strengthen scientific research, especially focusing on current mining conditions, in order to lay the foundation for establishing an inherently safe production system Special policies and measures should be formulated for high gas and gas outburst mines to promote healthy development High gas and gas outburst mines not only have poor resource occurrence conditions and are prone to accidents, but also have relatively abundant gas resources. The state should formulate special policies for it, reducing the tax amount for high gas mines, especially gas outburst mines, and subsidizing the investment of less collected taxes in mine safety to improve the safety conditions of mines; At the same time, it is encouraged to conduct gas drainage and develop the utilization of gas, and taxes should be reduced or exempted in the process of developing and utilizing gas. Gas power generation is encouraged, and the electricity generated can be connected to the grid without restriction or discrimination