On January 8, the National Mine Safety Production Work Conference was held in Beijing. The conference pointed out that 2024 is a crucial year for achieving the goals and tasks of the "14th Five-Year Plan". Mine safety supervision and inspection departments at all levels and the vast number of mining enterprises have worked hard under pressure, and the national mine safety production situation has remained stable and improved, with significant progress in mine safety production work.

The photo shows the scene of the National Mine Safety Production Work Conference.

In terms of policy measures, the three-year action plan and the "eight hard measures" were rigorously implemented. In 2024, the "Hard Measures for Preventing and Curbing Major and Serious Production Safety Accidents in the Mining Sector" (hereinafter referred to as the "Eight Hard Measures") and the "Three-Year Action Plan for Fundamental Improvement in Mine Safety Production (2024-2026)" (hereinafter referred to as the Three-Year Action Plan) were successively issued. Focusing on the above policies, the National Mine Safety Administration launched a special campaign of "Studying Ironclad Regulations, Clarifying Responsibilities, Rigorously Implementing Measures, and Ensuring Safety," refining the responsibilities and tasks of mining enterprises, local regulators, and national inspectors, and organizing unannounced inspection teams to conduct special supervision and inspections in various coal-producing provinces, continuously promoting fundamental improvement efforts in key regions and enterprises. In terms of risk management, the control and emergency response to major safety risks were advanced. The State Administration for Market Regulation and provincial-level regulatory and supervisory departments maintain 24-hour emergency duty, routinely conduct monitoring, early warning, verification, and handling, achieving a 100% reporting and handling rate for high-value gas alarms throughout the year. A nationwide survey of hidden disaster-causing factors in mines is conducted, and a dynamic list of mines with severe disasters is published. The construction of a network for monitoring and early warning information on major disaster risks is being promoted. Emergency rescue work in mines is being strengthened, with specialized training on self-rescue devices, drills on disaster avoidance routes, and joint drills for tailings dams being organized to provide scientific, safe, and orderly guidance for rescue operations. Regarding regulatory effectiveness, efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of mine safety supervision and inspection. Extensive publicity and training on the "Regulations on Coal Mine Safety Production" are being conducted, coal mine safety regulations and standards for judging major hidden dangers are being revised, and a mine safety industry standardization technical committee is being established. The standards for administrative penalty discretion and enforcement manuals are being revised, and measures for retrospective investigation of supervisory and enforcement responsibilities are being introduced. A strong crackdown on illegal activities and violations is underway, with special inspections conducted on hidden working faces, self-rescue devices, falsified monitoring, counterfeit qualification certificates, and key enterprise personnel. In terms of science and technology, the empowerment of science and technology and the construction of safety infrastructure are being promoted. The National Mine Safety Administration launched the construction of the second batch of key laboratories, released a catalogue for the promotion of advanced and applicable technologies and equipment, and a catalogue for the elimination of outdated processes and equipment; jointly with multiple departments, it issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Construction of Intelligent Mines and Promoting the Development of Mine Safety," held an on-site meeting on intelligent mining in non-coal mines, and announced 31 typical application scenarios of robots in the mining field and 66 scenario examples; it carried out the "Mine Safety Technology Entering Mining Areas" activity in seven provinces, built an integrated platform for production, education, research and application, promoted advanced technologies and experiences in disaster management, and provided technical pathways for safe production. Currently, mine safety production still faces severe and complex challenges. The meeting emphasized that in the face of new situations, new changes, and new circumstances, it is necessary to properly handle the relationship between Party building and business, development and safety, law enforcement and service, addressing symptoms and root causes, and deployment and implementation, solving problems one by one and resolving contradictions one by one. 2025 is the final year of the 14th Five-Year Plan and a crucial year for laying a good foundation for the 15th Five-Year Plan; therefore, the responsibility for ensuring mine safety production is significant. The meeting called for further comprehensive and in-depth reforms in the field of mine safety production in the new year, to promote the integrated implementation of the three-year action plan and the "eight hard measures," to strengthen source control, process management, and emergency management, to vigorously promote law-based security, technology-driven safety, and talent-based safety, and to continuously advance the whole-chain governance of mine safety "one-stop service" to effectively prevent major and serious mine accidents. (Liang Hengwei)

Source: National Mine Safety Administration