Mine Emergency Response and Rescue Training Courses in Modern Academic Mining Engineering Programs
The worldwide mining industry is currently facing a significant restructuring process. In most underground mines, widespread mechanization of the mining processes increases production while reducing staff numbers. At the same time, the mining depths as well as the lateral spread of the mine workings are increasing. This ever changing mining environment is requiring sophisticated solutions for the design and operation of the underground mines. In fact, a reduced number of mining engineers is taking responsibility over ever increasing mine operations. This does not only apply to the excavation of the minerals, but also to all other aspects of the mining operation, including health and safety, disaster management and mine rescue organization.
Most mining engineering graduates entering the industry lack experience in mine emergency management. Young engineer trainees must learn mine emergency response and rescue work in addition to their normal training experience on the job. Often, and unfortunately, emergency and rescue training at different mining companies is not carried out to the highest level and standard and with the best possible training outcomes. The tasks and challenges a young engineer faces while being trained in a new position do not leave much room for additional training in mine rescue and emergency management. At the same time, experienced “old hands” are retiring and cannot easily be replaced due to limited graduation numbers.
Strategies are being developed at mining universities worldwide to train mining engineering students in handling mine emergency situations and to provide hands-on experience for managing potential accident and disaster scenarios underground. One of these strategies from Germany is presented in this paper. This specific strategy has to be seen under special consideration of the local and regional boundary conditions in Germany, but might serve as case studies for mining schools and universities in other countries.
Authors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Helmut Mischo, Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Weyer, and Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Becker, Institute of Mining and Special Civil Engineering of the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg (TU BAF), Freiberg/Germany, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Brune, Mining Engineering Department of the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), Golden/USA
Grubenrettungswesen in den Vereinigten Staaten
1 Mine Rescue and Mine Disaster Management Training at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg
1.1 Industrial Background
Due to the ongoing restructuring and simultaneous decline of the number of large underground mining operations, the mining industry in central Europe is experiencing a steady decline of personnel in the remaining mines. The fear is that in some regions the well-established, centralized mine rescue organizations may collapse within this decade. With this, a large number of small mines and underground operations may face a lack of skilled and capable mine emergency and rescue support. New strategies and organizational efforts for sustainable mine rescue operations in Germany are currently being discussed. German federal mining law requires companies to provide suitable mine rescue coverage for their underground operations. Mines must either establish their own rescue teams or join and support centralized mine rescue organizations or rescue teams.
Based on the size and number of the still active underground mining operations in Germany, five central main mine rescue centers are being maintained nationwide. Two of these centers are operated by the German hard coal mining industry, while the other three centers are run by the BG RCI, the employers’ workman’s compensation insurance association for the minerals and chemical industries. The central mine rescue centers are responsible for the education and certification of mine rescue team members and the ongoing education and training of teams and team leaders. The rescue centers are also equipped with state-of-the-art testing equipment in order to maintain and calibrate mine rescue equipment.
The centers also establish guidelines and recommendations for the use of the personal protection and rescue equipment as well as for the execution and coordination of rescue operations and set the standards and write content for mine rescue training courses.
The “guidelines for mine rescue” set the fundamental requirements for the German mine rescue. These guidelines are established by the “German committee for the central mine rescue”. In Germany, every active member of a mine rescue team must be at least 18 years old and should not be older than 40. All volunteers, individuals may serve as team members, team captains or a chief. Traditionally, all members must be fully trained, experienced miners who are familiar with a variety of situations underground. All mine rescue team members must have medical clearance under German medical standard G26/3, a specially designed, extensive medical examination under physical stress for people working under breathing apparatus. This clearance must be obtained before a rescue team member may be permitted to wear a breathing apparatus in a mine rescue operation or training. This thorough medical examination must be passed every other year and must also be renewed after recovering from illness or accidents. Content and duration of the training for rescue team members, team captains, chiefs of rescue teams and equipment or bench technicians is prescribed in the guidelines for the central mine rescue stations. These guidelines also govern education and training for mine rescue team members, organization and preparation of rescue operations, the minimum number of rescue teams present on site before a rescue operation can commence and an equipment list required before starting the rescue operation. An apprentice may become a mine rescue team member-in-training after attending a one-week basic training course and passing theoretical and practical examinations. After a year of regular practical and theoretical training, the apprentice will become a full mine rescue team member. In subsequent years and by taking additional courses and examinations, a mine rescuer may also qualify as a troop leader or chief.
Due to the ongoing restructuring in the German mining industry, changes in the basic structures of mine rescue operations must be implemented. Generally, a minimum of three fully operational mine rescue teams must be on site to commence a mine rescue operation in a non-coal mine, while ten teams must be present at a hard coal mine. Under the new structure, smaller, three-men-teams may be formed to enter the mine under certain circumstances if the emergency is at a small mine and for life-saving operations only. A second team must stand by. The new and adapted regulations, together with other restructuring elements and modified operating schemes had been presented for public comment during the year 2014 and have recently been implemented. The Department of Mining Engineering of the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg (TU BAF) has been part of this restructuring program for several years and has been hosting a number of scientific conferences and workshops on the reorganization and restructuring of the mine rescue scheme in central Germany.
1.2 Traditional Mine Rescue and Disaster Management Courses at Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg
Fig. 1. TU BAF Mining Students at BG RCI Central Mine Rescue Station. // Bild 1. TU BAF-Grubenwehrteam während einer Grubenwehrübung an der BG RCI Hauptstelle.
Occupational health and safety is a core competence for mining engineering graduates. This has led to the implementation of related course content into the mining engineering curriculum almost a century ago. Since then, specific short-courses have been covering the subject not only for mining engineering students, but also for all other raw material majors. For several decades, the mining engineering students have been trained in a supplementary course in mine rescue provided by the Central Mine Rescue Station of BG RCI in Leipzig (Figures 1, 2). During this block course, students are introduced to the structure, tasks and responsibilities of mine rescue as well as the organization of a mine rescue operation. The short course usually ends with a “hot” emergency practice under breathing apparatus in the BG RCI exercise and training center, which resembles the confined spaces and obstacles typical of an underground mine.
Like every other mine rescue team member, the participating students also must obtain medical clearance before being admitted to this course. Traditionally a mandatory part of the mining engineering education, constraints in engineering education today require that this course be offered on a voluntary basis. Still, a majority of TU BAF students participate in the training.
