Development of an accident causation model for underground coal mines

Date

2023-9-08

Author

Mevsim, Rıdvan

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

420
views

1239
downloads

Cite This

Mining disasters continue to occur and result in not only fatalities and injuries but also significant destruction, environmental pollution and financial losses. The tools typically used to study causes of occupational accidents are generally descriptive and focus on lagging indicators. There is a research-practice gap of systemic accident analysis and examination of leading safety indicators in mining industry. The main objective of this study is developing an accident causation model to represent underground coal mining, based on system safety paradigm. In order to achieve that, novel databases were generated from official accident investigation reports, routine inspections, and Mine Safety Leading Indicators Survey (MSLIS) responded by the occupational safety specialists. Quantitative data analyses were conducted via SmartPLS 4. The scope of the study includes only underground coal mining inspection and accident investigation reports of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Processing 372 accident investigation reports in coal mining, 45 causal or contributing factors were determined. The most predictive leading indicators were found the ones related to directives and risk management, workers’ commitment to safety, and safety communication. According to the frequencies taken from three data sources, mine design appears as having the highest risk score, while workers’ commitment to safety has the lowest. Research findings reveal that organizational factors have a significant impact on result of the accident, mine design, and workers’ participation. The novelty of this study is originated from its research design which covers both pre-accident and post-accident phases and being the first comprehensive accident causation model in underground coal mining.

Subject Keywords

System safety, Coal mining, Accident causation model, Leading indicators, Organizational factors

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/105550

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis