Bezpieczeństwo Pracy i Ochrona Środowiska w Górnictwie Number 10/2019

During the exploration for oil and natural gas and their exploitation, the hydrogen sulphide hazard, present together with the eruption hazard, is the most serious hazard in this mining branch because it poses a risk of a large disaster with unpredictable consequences. The specific properties of hydrogen sulphide, in particular its toxic effect on organisms, flammable and explosive properties, damaging effects on the structure of metals, formation of pyrophoric compounds, pose a threat to people, equipment, and the environment. Hazardous events in the form of eruptions of reservoir fluids with hydrogen sulphide, corrosion of equipment, drilling equipment, and extraction systems due to hydrogen sulphide, self-ignition of pyrophoric sulphur compounds and several cases of poisoning of mine employees, which had spanned over the years, led to the establishment of a District Mines Rescue Station in Kraków in 1976, which was later transformed into a Rescue Station of Bore-Hole Mining. These events and accidents also had a decisive impact on the improvement of eruption and hydrogen sulphide prevention during drilling, the introduction of the obligation to use respiratory protective equipment if there is a risk of toxic hazard, and the use of gas desulphurisation to prevent the self-ignition of sulphur compounds deposited on filters. These activities have been reflected in legal regulations perfected over the last 25 years. The effect of the preventive measures in place was a considerable decrease of the number of dangerous events related to the hydrogen sulphide hazard.

This article discusses the criminal law responsibility for the infringement of the rights of employees under Article 218 of the Penal Code in the light of the decision of the Constitutional Tribunal of 18 November 2010 considered ultima ratio. The article presents types of offences (misdemeanours) covered by this article of the Penal Code, which include: malicious or persistent infringement of the rights of employees, failure to comply with a legally binding court decision ordering employee reinstatement or the payment of remuneration or other benefits to the employee. These provisions ensure the protection of individual legal interests, which indicates their great importance because offences against the rights of employees are serious offences that infringe the constitutional principle of social equity. Recent police statistics reveal that there is a growing awareness of the importance of respecting the rights of employees since the number of such offences decreases year by year.

The article focuses on selected aspects of the use of waste to liquidate open-pit mining excavations. In this respect, the article addresses the issue of defining substances or objects as waste and analyses, in particular, whether the fact that they are used for the liquidation process is the same as their disposal or as the intention of or obligation to dispose of them. Zaistnienie tych przesłanek kreuje bowiem przedmiotowość odpadów. The author rejects this possibility and points out that the use of waste to liquidate excavations usually meets the criteria for "other recovery processes" indicated as one of the the waste management methods specified in their statutory hierarchy. In addition, the article rejects the possibility of filling excavations having water accumulation with waste. It also rejects the possibility of liquidating a mining excavation by locating a landfill site there, indicating that such a site can be established only after the mine liquidation process is completed.