Latest report on the state of safety in mining

A report entitled "Assessment of the State of Occupational Safety, Mine Rescue and General Safety in Connection with Mining and Geological Activities in 2024" has been published on our website. This important compendium of knowledge is dedicated to recipients from the mining industry in a broad sense.

This cyclical publication contains essential information on the hazards occurring in mining plants, accident trends, occupational diseases of miners and natural deaths at work, as well as the utilisation of decommissioned mining plants for tourism, sanatoriums and medical treatment, and preventive and repressive actions of the mining supervision.

The document contains an assessment of the state of safety in mining, the impact of mining activities on public safety, the state of recognition and combating of hazards in mining plants and the state of mine rescue. This assessment is made under Article 166(1)(8) of the Act of 9 June 2011. - Geological and Mining Law.

The safety status in 2024 is presented against the data from 2020. Accidents in coal mining had the most significant impact on the development of the total accident rate in 2020-2024. They accounted for 85.6% of total accidents in mining. During the analysed period, the accident rate trends in the total mining industry and hard coal mining are analogous (a decrease in the accident rate, compared to the previous year in 2020, and increases in the subsequent years 2021-2024).

In copper ore mining, 2020-2022 showed a significant decrease in the total accident rate from 251 accidents in 2020 to 174 in 2022. In contrast, 2023-2024 saw an increase in the total accident rate to 208 accidents in 2023 and 213 accidents in 2024.

Between 2020 and 2021, a downward trend in the total number of fatal and serious accidents was revealed (from 29 accidents occurring in 2020 to 22 accidents in 2021). In 2022, there was an increase in the total number of fatal and serious accidents (49 accidents, including 33 that occurred in connection with disasters at JSW S.A. KWK ‘Pniówek’ and at JSW S.A. KWK ‘Borynia-Zofiówka' Ruch Zofiówka); in 2023, the number of fatal and serious accidents approached the 2021 value (23 accidents were recorded). In 2024, fatal and serious accidents decreased to 19, reaching the lowest level in the last five years.

In 2024, due to the hazards present in underground mining, on a year-by-year basis:

• the number of rock bumps remained the same with a concomitant increase in the number of people injured (25 rock bumps in 2024, resulting in 36 accidents, compared to 25 rock bumps in 2023, which caused five accidents);
• the number of rock bursts remained the same with an increase in the number of people injured (three rock bursts in 2024, resulting in 48 accidents, against three rock bursts in 2023, which caused 15 accidents);
• the number of fires increased (13 fires in 2024 against 12 in 2023 - no one was injured as a result of these fires);
• the same number of incidents related to methane hazards was recorded (one incident was recorded with no injuries).

The year 2024 saw a slight increase in the number of total accidents related to rockfall hazards from the roof and/or the walls of underground mines, from 215 accidents in 2023 (including two fatalities and three severe accidents) to 220 accidents in 2024 (including two fatalities).

The study also includes information on occupational diseases typical of the mining industry. Between 2020 and 2024, in the whole mining industry, 1992 cases were reported, of which pneumoconiosis accounted for the largest share (1,818 cases, i.e. more than 91 per cent of all occupational diseases in mining). The worst year in this respect was 2023 when 443 cases of pneumoconiosis were reported (an increase of more than 26 per cent compared to 2022). In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of pneumoconiosis (mainly asbestos-related) diagnosed in workers in the former Lower Silesian Coal Basin. In 2024, 118 cases of asbestos pneumoconiosis were registered, accounting for more than 26% of all pneumoconiosis registered in the mining industry. As in previous years, most asbestos pneumoconiosis cases registered in 2024 involved former mine workers. Despite an upward trend in the incidence of pneumoconiosis among active miners between 2020 and 2023, in 2024, there was a decrease in the number of active workers diagnosed with pneumoconiosis by 8 cases compared to the previous year.

Detailed information on the state of occupational health and safety in mining for 2024 can be found in the full study - downloadable from the State Mining Authority's website: https://www.wug.gov.pl/bhp/stan_bhp_w_gornictwie. Previous years' reports can also be found there.