**General Administration of Work Safety **Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau: Notice on Deepening the Comprehensive Inspections for Coal Mine Safety Production

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**General Administration of Work Safety **Notice from the Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau on Deepening the Comprehensive Inspections for Coal Mine Safety Production, No. An Jian Zong Mei Jian [2016] 115 To the coal mine safety supervision departments and coal industry management agencies in all coal-producing provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and to the provincial-level coal mine safety inspection bureaus: In accordance with the requirements set out in the “Notice from the Office of the State Council’s Work Safety Committee on Conducting Thorough Comprehensive Inspections to Strengthen Work Safety at the End of the Year and the Beginning of the New Year” (An Wei Ban Ming Dian [2016] No. 13) and the “Report from the Office of the State Council’s Work Safety Committee on the ‘10·31’ Gas Explosion Incident at the Jinshan Gou Coal Mine in Yongchuan District, Chongqing” (An Wei Ban Ming Dian [2016] No. 14), the following measures are hereby issued regarding the deepening of comprehensive inspections for coal mine safety production: All regions and departments must draw serious lessons from the extremely serious gas explosion incident that occurred at the Jinshan Gou Coal Mine in Yongchuan District, Chongqing, on October 31st. They should be fully aware of the severe challenges faced in coal mine safety production at present, and carry out thorough comprehensive inspections based on the actual conditions of the coal mines in their respective areas. Careful organization and coordinated planning are necessary; safety supervision and inspection agencies for coal mines at all levels, as well as authorities responsible for the coal industry and other relevant parties, must be mobilized to conduct a thorough inspection of all coal mines in the jurisdiction (including those that have ceased operations). In addition to regular inspections, surprise inspections, random checks, and undercover investigations should also be carried out to ensure that this comprehensive inspection yields tangible results. This comprehensive inspection focuses on the following 8 aspects; any coal mines that engage in illegal or irregular activities will be dealt with strictly and swiftly in accordance with the law. I. Inspect for coal mines exceeding designated layers and boundaries. Where coal mines engage in illegal mining beyond designated layers or boundaries, they must cease operations immediately for rectification, and the case shall be referred to the land and resources authorities for handling in accordance with the law. II. Inspect the acceptance of coal mine resumption of production and operations. Those that fail to strictly follow the acceptance procedures and standards, and resume production or construction without approval for resumption after inspection, must immediately cease operations and carry out rectification ； Coal mines that have been ordered to suspend operations for rectification and resume production or construction without approval must be shut down in accordance with the law. III. Check the situation of elimination and withdrawal. For coal mines that are included in the plans to reduce overcapacity in the coal industry and should be shut down, as well as those that have established illegal \"transition periods\" or \"withdrawal periods\", production must be halted immediately, the mines must be shut down, and this must be announced promptly. For cases where it is indeed necessary to withdraw equipment, safety technical measures must be established, responsible supervisors must be appointed, and approval must be obtained from the coal mine safety supervision department at or above the county level, in accordance with the relevant jurisdictional rules, to prevent forced production under the pretext of withdrawing equipment. IV. Check the “six major systems”. If the “six major systems” in mines, particularly the safety monitoring system and the personnel location tracking system, fail to operate properly, production must be halted immediately for rectification. V. Investigate coal mining processes and methods. Those that use mining methods and techniques such as excavation in place of mining, which are explicitly prohibited, must cease operations immediately for rectification. VI. Investigate situations such as excessive production of superpowers. Coal mines that do not organize production in accordance with the announced or publicly displayed production capacity, those whose monthly output exceeds the approved (design) production capacity by 10%, those with an imbalance between mining development, preparation, extraction, and safety reserves, those facing difficulties in maintaining a continuous mining process, and those that engage in \"topping-down\" mining methods, as well as those whose gas extraction does not meet standards, must suspend operations immediately for rectification. VII. Check the ventilation system. If the mine ventilation system is inadequate or unreasonable, and the air volume at the points where air is used does not meet the requirements, production must be halted immediately for rectification. VIII. Examine investment in work safety. Coal mining enterprises that are unable to ensure investment in safe production, and that fall under any of the 9 situations specified in the \"Notice from the **Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau on Strengthening Supervision and Inspection of Investment in Coal Mine Safe Production\" (Mei An Jian Jian [2016] No. 20), must suspend operations immediately for rectification. For coal mines that are ordered to suspend operations for rectification or are found not to meet the requirements for holding a safety production license, their safety production licenses shall be temporarily seized ； Coal mines whose safety production licenses have been temporarily suspended and that still fail to meet the requirements for holding such licenses after making corrections shall have their safety production licenses revoked in accordance with the law ； Coal mines that fail to apply for an extension when their safety production licenses expire shall have their safety production licenses revoked in accordance with the law. The situations of coal mines ordered to suspend operations for rectification, as well as those whose safety production licenses are temporarily seized, revoked, or cancelled, should be reported simultaneously to relevant departments such as those in charge of land and resources, industry and commerce administration, public security, and power supply, as well as to the local people’s government at the site of the coal mine, so that measures such as suspending the supply of certain goods and restricting power supply can be implemented. Coal mines that have been ordered to suspend operations for rectification but continue to operate without authorization, those that still do not meet the safety requirements even after such suspension, or those that continue to operate despite the discovery of major safety hazards on two or more occasions within 3 months, shall be referred to the local people’s government for closure in accordance with the law. Those involved in illegal or irregular production and construction that may constitute a crime should be handed over to the judicial authorities in accordance with the law; punishment alone shall not serve as a substitute for criminal prosecution. The coal safety supervision departments of the provinces (regions, municipalities) that produce coal, as well as those of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, should take the lead in carrying out this comprehensive inspection of coal mine safety production, with the cooperation of the provincial-level coal industry management departments, land and resources departments, and provincial-level coal mine safety inspection bureaus. Provincial coal mine safety supervision departments are requested to prepare a summary report on the results of the comprehensive inspections regarding coal mine safety production by January 25, 2017, fill out the attached form (see attachment), and submit it promptly to the **Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau.