The chairman of the Independent trade union of the miners of Ukraine Mikhail Volynets believes the labor safety level in the coal industry is rapidly falling, and could lead to increase of the fatal accidents at mines.
“The license for working under heavy and dangerous conditions at Krasnolimanskaya mine is running out. And the new authorities, which prolong such licenses are simply unqualified. Personal protective gear purchases have decreased. All this means the miners are in constant danger. Half of the people working underground at Krasnolimanskaya cannot use personal protective gear. So in case of the fire or explosion, such people, even having the protective gear, would not be able to use it and could perish”, said Volynets.
And almost all Ukrainian mines work under such conditions, not only Krasnolimanskaya, where coalmining has recently been stopped because of the explosion and fire. Not to mention that all the mine management (director Konstantin Kiselev and two of his deputies – Yevgeny Kostennikov and Denis Mikhailov) has been arrested.
At the same time Krasnolimanskaya yielded 8 thousand tons of coal daily and employed 5 thousand people. (Ukrainian Metal)