The all-day training is aimed at updating and consolidating knowledge of methane hazards in underground workings, as well as familiarizing participants with new technical and organizational solutions.
- We wanted to develop a training course that not only updates knowledge, but first of all makes people aware of the reality of the hazard - says Jarosław Rutkowski, director of the Budryk mine, and adds: - We opted for a different approach, combining theory with practice and practicing real scenarios. Only in this way can we talk about effective prevention.
The training includes intensive practical exercises that take place in a practice chamber located in the Mine Rescue Station. There, miners, under the guidance of rescue workers, penetrate the smoky workings, clearing the way to transport the injured on a stretcher using self-rescue devices in an area filled with smoke.
The next stage of the training is the use of handheld firefighting equipment and water in an attempt to effectively extinguish burning methane in a specially prepared station. Workers there use three extinguishing agents: they start with water, then use a foam extinguisher, and finally a powder extinguisher, which teaches them in practice on the importance and appropriate selection of the right extinguishing agents. The whole process takes place under the watchful eye of mine rescue workers.
Participants also visit the first aid station, where qualified medical personnel introduce the principles of pre-medical first aid with special emphasis on the management of burns.
- During the classes, you can also hear the account of a miner who was one of the few survivors of a methane explosion in the longwall. His account covering the rescue operation, hospital stay, rehabilitation, and then return after several years to his profession makes a huge impact on the audience and emphasizes how important it is to follow all prevention and health and safety rules to reduce or eliminate the risk - assesses Grzegorz Jaromin, engineer of the OHS and Training Department.
The training concludes with two lectures. The first lecture in the field of methane hazards was delivered by the Ventilation Department. The second lecture takes a closer look at the use of communication devices in case of emergencies and emergency signals in the mining industry, along with the correct reporting of identified hazards conducted by the OHS and Training Department.
The program is being very well received by the staff and work is already underway to develop it further.
- This is one of the best training courses - it’s short, concise and to-the-point. There should be more of them. It shows employees how to really do things. This is not dry theory or memorized regulations. In mining, you have to practice it to understand. I think that such training really improves our safety - says Jan Kaźmierczak, a participant of the course, who works at the GRP3 unit in the Knurów Section.
Training at Budryk is conducted entirely by mine personnel. So far, employees of three JSW-owned mines - Budryk, Pniówek and Knurów-Szczygłowice - have taken part.
- It is thanks to the close cooperation and commitment of the OHS and Training Department, the Ventilation Department and the Mine Rescue Station that we were able to develop a program that not only meets formal requirements, but above all responds to the real needs of employees - concludes Piotr Musiała, head of the OHS and Training Department at the Budryk mine.
It is worth mentioning that employees from the Borynia-Zofiówka-Bzie mine are also being sent for methane hazard training. Employees of the Zofiówka Section and the Bzie Section are being trained at the Zofiówka mine, while employees of the Borynia Section are being trained at the Barbara Experimental Mine in Mikołów.
A total of more than 1,900 employees at all JSW mines have already been trained in methane hazards this year.
