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Introduction: Senior managers’ attitudes towards safety are very important regarding the safety practices in an organization. The study is to describe the current situation of senior managers′ attitudes towards safety in the Chinese coal industry. Method: We evaluated the changing trends as well as the reasons for these changes in the Chinese coal industry in 2009 and in 2014 with 168 senior manager samples from large Chinese state-owned coal enterprises. Evaluations of 15 safety concepts were performed by means of a questionnaire. Results and Conclusions: Results indicate that, in 2014, three concepts were at a very high level (mean > 4.5), and six were at a relatively high level (4.5 > mean > 4.0). Analyses of changing trends revealed that nine concepts improved significantly, while four greatly declined in 2014 compared to those in 2009. The data reported here suggest that the reasons for the significant improvement with respect to the nine concepts include the improvement in social and legal environments, the improvement of the culture of social safety, workers′ safety demands being met, and scientific and technical advances in the coal industry. The decline of the four concepts seemed to be caused by a poor awareness of managers in the coal industry that safety creates economic benefits, insufficient information on safety, inadequate attention to the development of a safety culture and safety management methods, and safety organizations and workers′ unions not playing their role effectively. Practical Applications: We therefore recommend strengthening the evidence that safety creates economic benefits, providing incentives for employees to encourage their participation in safety management, and paying more attention to the prevention of accidents in coal mines via safety organizations and unions. These results can provide guidelines for workers, industrialists, and government regarding occupational safety in the whole coal industry.

Spontaneous combustion of coal is one of the major hazards threatening production safety during longwall mining. Mining-induced voids, which provide passages for air leakage, are the key factor triggering spontaneous combustion of coal in longwall goafs. In this study, a comprehensive method, which combined pressure balance, grouting injection, and filling fissures, was proposed to prevent spontaneous combustion of coal in longwall goafs with complex air leakage. Field engineering practice was carried out in Sitai Coal Mine in China. The results demonstrated that with the application of the proposed method, in the working face, the concentration of CO was decreased from 31ppm to 0 and the air leakage quantity was decreased from 261 to below 80 m3min-1. The gas samples analysis from the gob areas also indicated that concentrations of O2 and CO were successively decreased, indicating that the risk of spontaneous combustion of coal in goafs was eliminated. The above mentioned analysis indicates that, the method proposed in this study is useful and efficient. Successful application of this technology could provide reference for the treatment of other coal mines.

This paper investigates how collusion between regulators and firms affects workplace safety using the case of China’s coal mine deaths. We argue that decentralization makes collusion more likely and that its effect is strengthened if the transaction costs of collusion are lower. These hypotheses are tested by investigating the impact of decentralization contingent on regulators’ characteristics. Exploring both decentralization and centralization reforms in the coal mine industry, we find that decentralization is correlated with an increase in coal mine death rates. Moreover, this increase in mortality is larger for the regulators with lower transaction costs (proxied by the locality of origin).

The major focus of the research work is on the evaluation of the hydrogeochemical characteristics, water quality index (WQI), and health risk assessment in a coal mining region of eastern India. Fifty-six water samples were collected from tube wells, dug wells, streams, and rivers for the present study. The major hydrogeochemical facies are Ca-Mg-HCO3 and Ca-Mg-Cl-SO4, which indicates the dissolution of carbonate phase minerals. Relatively higher levels of Ca2+ and Mg2+ and lower SO42− concentration with alkaline pH conditions could have controlled the dissolution of ions in the coal-bearing aquifer. Rock-water interaction, ion exchange processes, and carbonate phase dissolutions are the major hydrogeochemical processes governing the ionic concentrations in the groundwater. Geochemical modeling shows groundwater samples are in near saturation to equilibrium condition with the carbonate phase minerals such as calcite and dolomite, while undersaturated with sulfate phase minerals such as anhydrite and gypsum. The results of the multivariate analyses reveal the contribution from natural and anthropogenic sources that determines the groundwater composition in the coal mining area. Based on (WQI) model, about 82% of the water samples were excellent to good category. The cumulative health risk assessment based on ingestion of (F− and NO3− concentrations) in groundwater indicates a non-carcinogenic risk of 90% for children and 92% for adults. Therefore, health risk reduction measures and necessary action plans should be adopted to improve the drinking water quality standard and for the protection of water resources in the coal mining regions.

Air quality observations by satellite instruments are global and have a regular temporal resolution, which makes them very useful in studying long-term trends in atmospheric species. To monitor air quality trends in China for the period 2005-2015, we derive SO2 columns and NOx emissions on a provincial level with improved accuracy. To put these trends into perspective they are compared with public data on energy consumption and the environmental policies of China. We distinguish the effect of air quality regulations from economic growth by comparing them relatively to fossil fuel consumption. Pollutant levels, per unit of fossil fuel, are used to assess the effectiveness of air quality regulations. We note that the desulfurization regulations enforced in 2005-2006 only had a significant effect in the years 2008-2009, when a much stricter control of the actual use of the installations began. For national NOx emissions a distinct decreasing trend is only visible from 2012 onwards, but the emission peak year differs from province to province. Unlike SO2, emissions of NOx are highly related to traffic. Furthermore, regulations for NOx emissions are partly decided on a provincial level. The last 3 years show a reduction both in SO2 and NOx emissions per fossil fuel unit, since the authorities have implemented several new environmental regulations. Despite an increasing fossil fuel consumption and a growing transport sector, the effects of air quality policy in China are clearly visible. Without the air quality regulations the concentration of SO2 would be about 2.5 times higher and the NO2 concentrations would be at least 25% higher than they are today in China.

In order to explore the effective method for the comprehensive evaluation of ecological environment quality of environmental pollution governance in China’s coal mining areas, based on the review of domestic and foreign research literature and the requirements and actual situation of environmental pollution control in China’s coal mining areas, this paper selects four categories of 20 evaluation indicators, including land resource, water resource, air, and sustainable development status. According to the land, surface water, air quality standards, and China’s sustainable development strategy issued by the Chinese government, and drawing on the latest research results at China and the world, taking the Yanzhou Mining in China as an example, the traditional niche model is introduced to reconstruct the spatial niche model for the case evaluation. It is found that the evaluation results of the spatial niche model lie between the evaluation results of the absolute niche model and the relative niche model. According to the evaluation results, during 2010–2018, the quality of land resources, water resources, and sustainable development in Yanzhou Mining has been upgraded from level IV to II, and the air quality has been upgraded from level IV to level III, which is still the focus of improving the ecological environment quality in Yanzhou Mining. The research findings are significant for guiding the Yanzhou Mining to improve the quality of the ecological environment and promote sustainable development. The conclusion of this paper has guiding significance for the improvement of ecological environment quality of other similar coal mining areas and provides empirical support for the government to formulate environmental pollution governance and ecological environment quality policy.

Coal power generation capacity is expanding rapidly in the arid northwest regions in China. Its impact on water resources is attracting growing concerns from policy-makers, researchers, as well as mass media. This paper briefly describes the situation of electricity-water conflict in China and provides a comprehensive review on a variety of water resources management policies in China’s coal power industry. These policies range from mandatory regulations to incentive-based instruments, covering water withdrawal standards, technological requirements on water saving, unconventional water resources utilization (such as reclaimed municipal wastewater, seawater, and mine water), water resources fee, and water permit transfer. Implementing these policies jointly is of crucial importance for alleviating the water stress from the expanding coal power industry in China.

The beneficiation of indigenous high ash bituminous coal is crucial for optimizing its suitability for Pulverized Coal Injection (PCI) in the steel industry. This study investigates the impact of size and density-based beneficiation on key coal properties, including proximate and ultimate analysis, calorific value, organic petrography, swelling index and thermal analysis. The raw coal, with an initial ash content of 28.73%, volatile matter of 19.43%, and fixed carbon of 51%, goes through density separation into fractions ranging from 1.3 to 1.8 kg/m 3 . The < 1.44 kg/m 3 fraction shows a significant reduction in ash content average 16.23% in all sizes with total recovery of 32.58%, which attracted investigations to assess its utilisation potential as PCI coal after blending it with very low ash imported non-coking coal. Furthermore, beneficiated coal with a density of < 1.44 kg/m 3 reveals an optimal volatile matter content of 21.62% and fixed carbon above 61.46%, aligning with PCI specifications. Our study also magnifies the importance of maceral composition and vitrinite reflectance (Ro%), with low-density fractions (< 1.44 kg/m 3 ) containing 62.4–77.8% vitrinite, enhancing combustion efficiency. Ultimate analysis endorses that the < 1.44 kg/m 3 density fraction, with an average carbon content of 73.46% and minimal sulphur < 0.42%, ensures efficient energy transfer. Gross Calorific Value (GCV) unveils that this fraction consistently provides energy outputs between 6642 and 8355 kcal/kg, making it the most suitable for PCI applications. Thermal analysis (DSC-TGA-DTG) of the beneficiated coal samples revealed combustion profiles closely aligned with imported PCI coal, confirming their compatibility with significant recovery yield (32.58%), and the successful blending strategy that brings the final ash content to within PCI specifications (9.59%). The potential for synergistic effects in blended combustion further reinforces their suitability for efficient PCI application. This study accentuates the strategic advantage of beneficiation in reducing dependency on imported PCI coal, enhancing domestic resource utilization, and promoting cost-effective steel production.

The studies on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurrence, distribution, health risk, and composition in drinking water are limited in India and worldwide. The main objective of this study was to find the contaminant sources, composition, health risk, and distribution of USEPA’s 16 priority pollutant PAHs in the drinking water samples collected between July 2019 to September 2019 from six districts of Southern Jharkhand. The Σ16PAHs mean ± standard deviation [SD] concentration values were ordered as East Singhbhum (ES) (21.5 ± 14.8 ng L−1) > West Singhbhum (WS) (16.57 ± 13.21 ng L−1) > Saraikela Kharsawan (SK) (11.48 ± 9.92 ng L−1) > Khunti (KH) (10.32 ± 9.09 ng L−1) > Simdega (SM) (9.96 ± 7.85 ng L−1) > Gumla (GU) (9.41 ± 8.63 ng L−1). The results show that ES and WS districts’ groundwater samples were more contaminated by the PAHs, which may be attributed to the presence of many small-, medium-, and large-scale industries and high vehicular density in these districts. The concentrations of lower molecular weight ring (3-rings) and middle molecular weight ring (4-rings) PAHs were dominant throughout all drinking samples. The concentration of the 3-ring PAH Anthracene and 4-ring PAH Fluoranthene were dominant in all districts. The molecular ratios suggested that the potential sources of PAHs are fuel combustion and coal, grass, and wood burning. Risk assessment shows that the incremental lifetime cancer risk and risk index (RI) were ranged from 0.02 × 10−10 to 4.93 × 10−10 for children and 0.01 × 10−10 to 2.98 × 10−10 for adults. The RI values for seven carcinogenic PAHs were 8.83 × 10−10 for children and 7.38 × 10−10 for adults. Although the carcinogenic risks were within the permissible values, chronic exposure to PAHs through the ingestion of drinking water could still be a human health concern.

This paper studies the occupational safety and health management methods as well as risk control technology associated with the coal mining industry, including daily management of occupational safety and health, identification and assessment of risks, early warning and dynamic monitoring of risks, etc.; also, a B/S mode software (Geting Coal Mine, Jining, Shandong, China), i.e., Coal Mine Occupational Safety and Health Management and Risk Control System, is developed to attain the aforementioned objectives, namely promoting the coal mine occupational safety and health management based on early warning and dynamic monitoring of risks. Furthermore, the practical effectiveness and the associated pattern for applying this software package to coal mining is analyzed. The study indicates that the presently developed coal mine occupational safety and health management and risk control technology and the associated software can support the occupational safety and health management efforts in coal mines in a standardized and effective manner. It can also control the accident risks scientifically and effectively; its effective implementation can further improve the coal mine occupational safety and health management mechanism, and further enhance the risk management approaches. Besides, its implementation indicates that the occupational safety and health management and risk control technology has been established based on a benign cycle involving dynamic feedback and scientific development, which can provide a reliable assurance to the safe operation of coal mines.