Design of hazards list based on hazard components for Chinese coal-mine

This paper aimed to introduce our research on the systematic hazard identification method for the coal-mine industry in China. Hazard identification is a significant factor in risk management. Various methods have been adopted in coal-mine enterprises. Based on our analysis, the recent methods appear to be complicated and difficult for the first-line workers. Thus a more systematic method is needed. Our main contribution in this paper was to come up with a hazards list. A hazard evolves into an accident is a process of state transition in which the basic components of the hazard contribute a lot. In order to identify the hazards in coal-mine comprehensively and systematically, this paper proposed to analyze and classify three elements of a hazard in detail. First of all, the accident types of coal-mine industry were classified from the energy point of view based on one hazard component-hazard element. Then, equipment and environment hazards lists and the management elements list were established based on the analysis of another hazard component-initiating mechanism. More over, a questionnaire survey was taken. Based on the analysis of this survey, the types of worker violations were classified aimed to ascertain the root cause of those violations. In order to get a systematic and comprehensive hazard identification and avoid omissions, all the identified hazards need to be recorded in detail and to be rechecked in order to realize the closed-loop management of hazard. Finally a hazards list for coal-mine industry is shaped through the systematic combination of mentioned hazard components. The list will never come to the end. The upgradation and improvement are needed constantly with the development of production technology. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Beijing Institute of Technology.