Study On Unsafe Behavior Causes At The Individual Level For Coal Mine Fire Accidents

Fire is one of the main disasters in coal mines.The present study on coal mine fires focuses mainly on the early warning of coal spontaneous combustion in the aspect of engineering technology,rarely involving the behavior-based approach to accidents prevention,but in fact,the occurrence of this accident is closely related to human unsafe behaviors.Through sorting out the former study we can know,the classification of coal mine fire accidents was still not detailed and the cause analysis was also not comprehensive,which resulted in a lack of targeted training contents.Therefore,this thesis will perform the basic study on the laws of coal mine fire cases and their unsafe behavior causes based on the accident causation theory,and give some training proposals to guide the prevention of this kind of accident.This thesis chose accident causation“2-4”model(4th Edition)as the tool for the cause analysis.Based on this,95 coal mine fire accidents during 1990-2015 were selected to conduct the statistics and analysis of individual unsafe behavior causes,among of which,there are 32 coal spontaneous combustion fires,43 electromechanical equipment fires,10 explosives spontaneous combustion fires and 10 open fires.Firstly,all unsafe acts related to the four kinds of accidents were identified,obtaining corresponding lists according to their frequency.Unsafe acts can be studied from causing the accident(i.e.,the occurrence of the fire source,development of the fire,organizing dangerous work,as well as safety management and personnel allocation)and expanding the accident(i.e.,the self-rescue,rescue,extinguishing and ventilation),and they were performed the statistics and comparison on the violation categories,staff levels,etc.Secondly,all unsafe conditions related to the four kinds of accidents were identified,also obtaining corresponding lists according to their frequency.Unsafe conditions can be studied from the materials,equipment or facilities,and workplace,and they were performed the statistics and comparison on the violation categories,corresponding unsafe acts,etc.Unsafe habitual behaviors causing unsafe acts and unsafe conditions were categorized and performed the statistics in the aspect of knowledge,awareness,habit,lazy psychology,fluke mind,etc.Finally,causes comparison among different kinds of accidents and training proposals were given.The occurrence laws and unsafe behavior causes of coal mine fire accidents are as follows:1)A statistical analysis on the macroscopic laws of coal mine fire accidents in recent years has been made.During the period from 2001 to 2015,the frequency of coal mine fire accidents and the number of deaths in China were fluctuating,and stabilized after 2011(about 2-4 accidents and 25-36 deaths average every year).The frequency of major & particular major fire accidents was also decreasing year by year,but accidents occurred every year and its frequency proportion in major & particular major coal mine accidents was increasing.In the four kinds of major & particular major coal mine fire accidents during the period from 1990 to 2015,the frequency of electromechanical fires and the number of deaths were the most,followed by the internal fire.The frequency of explosives spontaneous combustion accidents is not high but the casualty is more serious,and the average death of per accident is up to 26.38.2)Lists of unsafe acts related to the occurrence of four kinds of coal mine fire accidents have been obtained.Based on this,the classification,violation situation,producers and causes of unsafe acts are analyzed statistically.(1)Among unsafe acts causing the accident,ones related to the occurrence of the fire source have the highest frequency and are the keys to the prevention.There are also large differences in the subcategories of unsafe acts in the four kinds of coal mine fire accidents.For coal spontaneous combustion accidents,the fire sources are mainly related to not detecting harmful gases(19 times),treating fire zones incompletely(13 times),not taking comprehensive measures to prevent coal spontaneous combustion(12 times),etc.For electromechanical equipment fire accidents,unsafe acts causing the fire sources include not conducting the preventive overhaul and maintenance to electromechanical equipment(17 times),not installing synthetic protectors for electromechanical equipment(10 times),violation of regulations in wiring(7 times),etc.Unsafe acts causing explosives spontaneous combustion are mainly about the poor selection and storage of initiating explosive devices,e.g.,purchasing and using bad explosives(10 times),violation of regulations in building magazines(6 times),etc.have the higher frequency.Smoking(7 times),violation of regulations in blasting(2 times),and using the stove underground(1 time)are the fire sources of open fire accidents.(2)Among unsafe acts expanding the accident or casualties,ones related to the self-rescue and rescue have the higher frequency.The subcategories of unsafe acts in four kinds of coal mine fire accidents are not very different,mainly including not reporting to the superior department or asking for help timely(34 times),not carrying the self-rescuer(25 times),not building more than two emergency exits(20 times),organizing risky rescue(16 times),not providing self-rescuers(14 times),etc.(3)Unsafe acts violating regulations account for above 90% of the total in the four kinds of coal mine fire accidents and ones related to explosives combustion accidents are 100%,so the enterprises should strengthen the implementation of present regulations.For the accidental unsafe acts,coal spontaneous combustion accidents mainly involve treating fire zones incompletely(9 times),taking wrong measures to extinguish fires(6 times),not strengthening safety precautions during holidays and festivals(4 times),etc.;electromechanical equipment fire accidents mainly involve taking wrong measures to extinguish fires(6 times),not cleaning the clutter in the belt pathway timely(4 times),not removing the oil stains around electromechanical equipment timely(3 times),etc.;open fire accidents only include two subcategories,namely not stopping people from smoking(3 times)and not cleaning flammable materials in the roadway timely(2 times).The high-risk unsafe acts only include 4 subcategories,namely walking through dangerous areas,organizing the cross operation,installing the unreasonable coal block device on the belt conveyor and not taking precaution measures to maintain fire zones.Based on this,some terms of related regulations can be refined and supplemented.(4)There are 861 unsafe acts in the four kinds of coal mine fire accidents.For producers of unsafe acts,ones related to middle managers are the most and senior managers' come second,accounting for 43.4% and 40.2%,respectively.Among all kinds of coal mine fires,the frequency proportion of unsafe acts resulting from the inadequate knowledge is the highest,accounting for 56.0% of the total,and ones related to the poor habit come second,accounting for 55.4%.In addition,lazy psychology(54.2%),poor awareness(49.2%),fluke mind(39.8%),etc.are also the main causes of unsafe acts,and are the keys to the training of safety knowledge and psychological intervention.3)Lists of unsafe conditions related to the occurrence of four kinds of coal mine fire accidents have been obtained.Based on this,the classification,violation situation,causes of unsafe conditions and the correspondence between acts and conditions are analyzed statistically.(1)Unsafe conditions related to materials appear in explosives spontaneous combustion accidents frequently,mainly referring to the existence of bad explosives in underground coal mines(10 times),so it's necessary to regulate the selection and storage of initiating explosive devices.For electromechanical equipment fire accidents,they involve more defects or failures of equipment or facilities like the cable(25 times),belt conveyor(6 times),air compressor(6 times),etc.,among of which,broken cables(12 times),non-flame-retardant cables(10 times),without synthetic protectors for electromechanical equipment(10 times),etc.have the higher frequency,so it's necessary to regulate their selection,overhaul and maintenance.Unsafe conditions in internal fire accidents relevant to the workplace have a higher frequency proportion,mainly including there being fire points(15 times)in underground coal mines,air leakage(10 times),natural ventilation(7 times),etc.,so strengthening the management of fire zones and ventilation state are of vital importance.In addition,the fire source mainly occurs in the goaf(9 times),roadways(6 times)and fire zones of adjacent mines(5 times),etc.,which are the key areas for the prevention of coal spontaneous combustion.(2)Among four kinds of coal mine fires,the frequency proportion of unsafe conditions violating regulations is more than 80%.So taking targeted measures to eliminate the violation is very important for accidents prevention.For the accidental unsafe conditions,coal spontaneous combustion accidents mainly include there being fire zones around the coal mine(6 times),naked and fractured coal seam(5 times),large roof area of the goaf(2 times),etc.;electromechanical equipment fire accidents mainly involve there being clutter in the belt pathway(3 times),oil leakage of electromechanical equipment(3 times),there being flammable materials around electromechanical equipment(2 times),etc.;in explosives spontaneous combustion accidents,only the disordered arrangement of roadways(3 times)do not violate regulations;in open fire accidents,only the bad fire extinguisher and circulating ventilation do not violate regulations and both appear 1 time.The high-risk unsafe conditions only occur in electromechanical equipment fire accidents,including the poor fire pipe(with plastic washers)and curved roadways.(3)More than 90% of unsafe conditions can correspond to one or more unsafe acts resulting in them.Generally,unsafe conditions mainly result from unsafe habitual behaviors' acting on unsafe acts,while ones directly caused by unsafe habitual behaviors are less.In coal spontaneous combustion accidents,the small roadway section,there being fire zones around the coal mine and the adjacent between the fire zone and the intake airflow roadway are not caused by unsafe acts directly.In electromechanical equipment fire accidents,the poor fire pipe,curved roadways,poor contact of the switch and oil leakage of electromechanical equipment(only part of them)are not caused by unsafe acts directly.All unsafe conditions in explosives spontaneous combustion accidents can find one or more unsafe acts resulting in them.In open fire accidents,only the poor fire extinguisher results from unsafe habitual behaviors directly.(4)For unsafe conditions activating unsafe acts,there are only several subcategories in coal spontaneous combustion accidents and electromechanical equipment fire accidents,including the poor fire-fighting system(resulting in taking wrong measures to extinguish fires),failure of the grouting pipeline(resulting in treating fire zones incompletely),failure of the communication equipment(resulting in not reporting to the superior department or asking for help timely),and disordered arrangement of roadways(resulting in choosing the wrong escape route).4)Common causes of the four kinds of coal mine fire accidents have been obtained.Based on this,common measures can be made and taken to prevent coal mine fire accidents.Common unsafe acts include 47 subcategories and total 554 times,among of which,not organizing safety training(41 times),organizing illegal production(39 times),not reporting to the superior department or asking for help timely(34 times),replacing regulation with subcontracting(33 times)etc.have the higher frequency,and there are 12 subcategories of unsafe acts that appear in four kinds of accidents.Common unsafe conditions include 13 subcategories and total 160 times,among of which,being in transboundary areas and insufficient airflow appear the most and both are 21 times,and there are 5 subcategories appearing in four kinds of accidents.5)On the basis of the “Behavior-based Safety Training System for accidents prevention”,some behavioral measures and training proposals of coal mine fire accidents' prevention have been given from the improvement of accident causation model,perfection of accident prevention path,classification prevention of accidents,classification prevention of unsafe acts and unsafe conditions,display of unsafe habitual behaviors,etc.