The new version of the Coal Mine Safety Regulations will be implemented on April 1, adding requirements for automated and intelligent mining.

On March 14, the Ministry of Emergency Management held a press conference. Wang Duanwu, Director of the Regulations and Science and Technology Department of the State Administration of Work Safety, responded to questions from Economic Daily reporters and stated that the newly revised "Coal Mine Safety Regulations" will take effect on April 1. These regulations include the active promotion of automated and intelligent mining and a reduction in the number of underground workers.

It is reported that on January 6 of this year, the Ministry of Emergency Management issued Order No. 8, "Decision of the Ministry of Emergency Management on Amending the Coal Mine Safety Regulations," and the revised "Coal Mine Safety Regulations" officially took effect on April 1. Wang Duanwu explained that the revisions include 18 articles, focusing on six key areas:

First, a system for inspecting important equipment and materials upon entry into the mine has been added. This aims to effectively address the problems of counterfeit, inferior, and substandard equipment in coal mines, as exposed by a series of coal mine accidents, such as the "9/27" incident at the Chongqing Songzao Coal Mine, and to further ensure that underground equipment and materials comply with relevant standards and coal mine safety production requirements.

Second, requirements have been added to actively promote automated and intelligent mining to reduce the number of underground workers. Coal mining enterprises are actively promoting the "mechanized replacement of personnel and automated reduction of personnel" approach, and the use of technology to promote high-quality coal mine development is being pursued.

Third, strict control has been implemented on the number of simultaneously operating working faces in a mine. Requirements have been introduced, such as "the number of coal mining faces operating simultaneously in a mine shall not exceed three, and the number of coal (or semi-coal rock) tunneling working faces shall not exceed nine. Excavation in lieu of mining is strictly prohibited," and "no two coal mining faces may be simultaneously operating within the mining impact zone."

Fourth, strengthening coal and gas outburst prevention and control has been implemented, with additional requirements for the establishment and management of outburst prevention teams, the scope and distance of drilling control areas for regional outburst prevention measures, and other areas, to ensure smooth integration with the "Detailed Rules for the Prevention and Control of Coal and Gas Outbursts."

Fifth, technical requirements for fire prevention and extinguishing have been strengthened, with additional requirements for wellhead fire prevention and extinguishing, special safety measures for goaf sealing, and risk assessment and monitoring of spontaneous combustion in goafs.

Sixth, strengthening rock burst prevention and control. To implement the dual prevention mechanism of strengthening safety risk classification management and hidden danger investigation and treatment, the newly revised "Coal Mine Safety Regulations" set forth requirements for coal mine rock burst prevention and control principles, rock burst hazard assessment, rock burst tendency identification and hazard evaluation, mine tunnel layout and mining operations, rock burst monitoring, and personnel evacuation and support during emergency measures.

In addition, the newly revised "Coal Mine Safety Regulations" also improve coal mine dust suppression equipment, water hazard prevention, and blasting operations. Wang Duanwu stated that in the next step, the State Administration of Mine Safety will urge all localities, relevant departments, and coal mining enterprises to strengthen the dissemination and implementation of the new "Coal Mine Safety Regulations," organize relevant training sessions, carefully compare the new regulations and requirements, conduct benchmarking inspections, improve relevant institutions, systems, and equipment, address shortcomings, strengthen weaknesses, implement various management measures, strengthen emergency rescue and response, and ensure the effective implementation of all regulations. (Economic Daily)