Northeast Corporation (hereinafter referred to as Corporation) is a military enterprise with the main function and task of exploiting, processing and trading coal; implementing military and defence duties and some other business tasks, including civil construction, industry, port services, marine transport, etc., in which, coal mining, especially the coal-pit mining is an extremely tiring, harmful and dangerous career with limited working space, lack of natural light and under potential danger of unsafety. Though the open-cast mining has more advantages, there are still high dangers of landslides, in rainy seasons in particular, unsafety in transporting, waste disposing, etc., due to the deeper mining sites and long transporting routes. Meanwhile, the miners do not have equal level of awareness, and need more time to get acquainted, master the jobs and ensure safety. Thoroughly understanding this problem, the Corporation’s Party Committee and command have attentively made leadership, direction and much concern about the occupational safety and hygiene work, considering this as one of their main tasks.

Khe Sim Company launches the Month of Labour Safety and Month of Labourer for 2023

Basing on the thorough grasp of the Law on Occupational Safety and Hygiene, directions, decrees, circulars, regulations and instructions from the seniors, especially Direction No. 29-CT/TW, dated 18 September 2013 by the Secretariat of the 11^th Party Central Committee on “Promoting  the occupational safety and hygiene work in the period of industrialisation, modernisation and international integration”; Direction No. 399-CT/QUTW, dated 5 June 2014 by the Central Military Commission Standing Committee on “Promoting the occupational safety and  hygiene work within the Military in the period of industrialisation, modernisation and international integration”, the Corporation’s Party Committee and command and its member units have included the work of occupational safety and hygiene, improving the working environment, taking care of labours in their leading resolutions, working plans, monthly and annual activity schedules, considering them as the main duties in their trading and production connected with the responsibility of the party committees, commanders and leaders of offices and units. In order to make this work as order and discipline, the Corporation has built the systems of regulations, processes, rules of occupational safety and hygiene which are suitable with each career and work. Member units are required to have enough production orders and safe technical solutions to manage and guide workers to follow in the working process. The Corporation has also paid attention to improving the effectiveness of the Council of Occupational Safety and Hygiene and member units, and had the regulations of rewarding and punishing the violations related to the occupational safety and hygiene work, at the same time, selected cadres and staff who have virtue, skills, professional levels and experience to join the specialised forces in functional offices; selected directly-produced workers who have responsibility, good skills and knowledge of  occupational safety and hygiene to attend the network of safety officers and hygienists at the grassroots level. The Corporation has also organised the inspection of occupational safety from the Corporation to units, offices, departments, from managers, deputy managers, group and team leaders and all workers, etc.; well carried out the motto of “actively ensuring safety for oneself and co-workers” in all production shifts. At the same time, the Corporation and its member units have regularly made specialised and sudden inspections, marked the occupational safety and hygiene emulation, anticipated the danger of unsafety to timely direct the repairs and eradication of dangers and shortcomings, making contribution to the production safety.

In order to make the occupational safety and hygiene cognition inherent in all people’s minds and actions, the Corporation has directed all departments and units to strengthen the propaganda and education to improve the responsibility for cadres, workers, officials and labourers with many forms such as video clips, internal radio-broadcasts, radios on worker-transporting vans or meeting rooms; pamphlets, books, leaflets, etc. connected with grasping and propagating in conferences, meetings and at the beginning of each working shift; organised for cadres and workers to register to ensure occupational safety and hygiene and periodically examined and evaluated their execution. Annually, the Corporation organises the Launching ceremony responding to the Action Month of occupational safety and hygiene, Month of workers, etc., registers the emulation agreement on ensuring occupational safety and hygiene, preventing fire and explosions and improving the working conditions for workers. Especially, before working, all workers have been assigned with positions, informed with safe technical solutions, warned about the possible dangers and solutions, asked to chant slogans of safety to create the high determination. As a result, all workers have been aware of ensuring safety for themselves and their co-workers in all production processes.

In coal mining, especially the coal-pit mining, the ability of timely recognising, improvising and solving the incidents is really important, which directly decreases the dangers and damages caused by the unsafety. Hence, the Corporation has regularly focused on instructing, training and improving for all participants. Together with sending cadres to classes on labour safety and hygiene, explosive materials, etc. held by functional offices in the Defence Ministry, the Corporation has positively coordinated with functional forces inside and outside the Military to organise training classes on safety techniques, industrial explosive materials, chemical safety, labour hygiene for managing cadres, workers directly operating machines and facilities with strict requirements of labour safety; tested and ranked the electricity safety for cadres and people working with electric equipment and electricity supplying network; demonstrated the Methane fires and coal-dust explosions; professionally trained on fire prevention, etc., at the same time, directed offices and units to seriously maintain the trainings on occupational safety and hygiene according to Circular No. 02/2017/TT-BQP by the Defence Ministry. For new recruits, only after attending and passing a training course on occupational safety and hygiene, they have been sent to working sites or workshops to do their duties. In the working process, they have been guided meticulously by production managers and experienced workers with “on-job training”. With new drawings, technology and facilities, units have introduced and trained with models before applying them into production. The Corporation has regularly conducted search and rescue  exercises; contests and competitions for learning about the laws on occupational safety and hygiene, fire prevention, etc., in order to improve the skills and capabilities of recognising and solving the situations for cadres, workers and labourers. Besides, the Corporation has increased the investments in  scientific and technological research and application in mining, processing and selecting coal, transportation and environment protection, considering this as the breakthrough to increase the working productivity, reduce the price of products, improve the working conditions and ensure safety. In recent years, the Corporation has implemented the technological application of supporting the pits by using ZRY soft frames, ZH and XDY stands, mining the motorised pits which have been supported by hydraulic stands, etc., to increase the working productivity, mining production and safety for workers. At the same time, the Corporation has installed the systems of cylindered winches, monorailed winches to transport materials instead of manual transportation; cabled winches to transport workers; reversible high-power ventilation fans in all mine routes to improve the microclimate; compressed-air fans to intake the toxic gases; regularly maintained, repaired and replaced the mining safety and emergency facilities to ensure the quality and be ready when incidents happen. In addition, the Corporation has purchased working protective equipment to meet the demands for production, protecting the health and life for workers and labourers, considering them as “property” of the Corporation.

Leader of the Corporation check the technical procedure in ZRY mine

Before the fast development of the economy and labour market, which has created more job opportunities, to attract and retain labourers together with well ensuring the labour safety and hygiene and raising the incomes, the Corporation has regularly ensured the incentives and remuneration policies for all beneficiaries. Accordingly, the Corporation has given time, supported the training fee of management, professions and skills for technical cadres and workers; taken care of their life, presented gifts and arranged the vehicles to transport workers and labourers to their hometowns on holidays and Tet; periodically checked their health as the regulations; adjusted, arranged and reassigned the suitable jobs according to their competence and health so that they will feel secure to work, trust and strongly attach to the Corporation.

Besides, the Corporation has also paid attention to the environment protection, making it as the standard and measurement of the sustainable development of the enterprise. The waste and wastewater from the coal mining, selection and processing; and dangerous waste have been collected and processed properly, with the monitoring system working 24/24, before being pumped to the environment. The anti-dust misting systems which have been installed in all pits right in the raking gutters, conveyor belts and mine faces have sprayed water to make mist screens together with high-powered misting fans to reduce the dust at a large scale in all open-air mining areas, coal processing areas, etc., in order to prevent the distribution of dust to the environment. The Corporation has also planted trees in the exploited areas to restore the eco-environment, etc.

With the synchronous implementation of solutions, the work of ensuring occupational safety and hygiene by the Corporation has been clearly and actively changed. The number of work accidents has been significantly decreased, there has been no serious incidents or work accidents for 3 consecutive years (from 2021 to 2023), making the basis for improving the quality and effectiveness of production and trade, which has been highly appreciated by the Defence Ministry. To bring into play these results, the Corporation continues to grasp and better implement the occupational safety and hygiene work in order to affirm its prestige, trademark, sustainable development and adequately contribute to the cause of building and protecting the Homeland.

Senior Colonel NGUYEN VAN BAC, Deputy General Director of the Corporation