ABSTRACT
Research and Development Centre for Electrical Engineering and Automation in Mining EMAG.
Katowice, Poland
A B S T R A C T : The natural hazards especially methane, fire and rock-bump hazards make the most
serious danger for present-day mines and have a crucial effect on miners' safety and continuity of
mining operations. Degree of these hazards increases with concentration of coal faces and use of
high-duty mining methods for seams lying deeper and deeper. The interaction of natural hazards at
seams liable to rock-bumps may lead to intensity both fire and spontaneous methane emission. The
methane continuous monitoring systems in the range of ( M 0 0 % C H 4 including automatic power-
off as well as the early fire detection systems based on measurements of C O , C 0 2 , 0 2 and smoke
are nowadays a standard. The improvement in efficiency of mine rescue operations can be achie-
ved by quick reaction to the hazards. The issue concerns e.g. the mines in which the associated na-
tural hazards may occur and where the bumps of definite energy requires an immediate power-off
not only in the hazardous areas but also at ways of air flow and propagation of methane disturban-
ces. The up-to-date rock-bump hazards monitoring systems use seismoacoustic and micro-seismo-
logic methods characterized by high dynamics of signals to be registered. W o r k safety of miners in
the underground areas means also the systems of their localization and attendance in mine work-
ings as well as the warning systems in case of hazards e.g. fire or gas and smoke propagation. The
miners' localization systems and load-speaking and alarm broadcasting communication systems
should be therefore disseminated to support a mine operator to remove the staff from hazardous
areas. Detection of the state of emergency requiring mine rescue operations allows a mine operator
to activate the underground signalling devices and banners showing safe escape routes.
