Modernisation has paved the way for future prospects

The work under the ground for the purpose of black coal mining considerably changed in the past years. The OKD company has undergone a dynamic transformation which turned it into a modern and promising firm with mines equipped with state-of- the-art technologies. Although many people in other regions of the Czech Republic still believe that coal is mined under Ostrava town, miners break coal with pick hammers and load it with shovels onto mine cars which they push to the shaft tower, the reality is entirely different.

Mines equipped with the latest technologies

In 2008, the OKD company announced the Productivity Optimisation Programme (POP 2010) which was completed last year and in the framework of which the mines of the company were equipped with the latest driving and mining complexes supplied by top world producers. The total investment accounted for almost CZK 10 billion. As a result of the use of new technologies there has been an increase in mining productivity and effectiveness. But first and foremost an improvement in occupational safety in mines has been achieved. “Thanks to top technologies we are now able to extract coal from such depths and under such conditions unthought-of in the past, thus guaranteeing good prospects for OKD company for many years ahead,“ stated Ján Fabián, the OKD Chief Administration and Development Officer.

Safety in the first place

The company is well aware of the fact that people constitute its most precious assets. Their occupational safety when working under the ground is therefore the top priority. In the framework of SAFETY 2010 Programme, all the employees were given brand new personal protective and working equipment. “A half-billion investment in this field was the best we could do. Safety of our employees is our priority number one. Economic success cannot make up for the safety and health of our employees,“ says Radim Tabášek, the OKD Chief Human Resources Officer. In addition the use of more machinery helps decrease the physical strenuousness of the work. Thanks to investments into technologies, the working environment has improved which to a major extent eliminates the risk of occupational diseases. “For example, the dust nuisance was successfully reduced up to 60 % in some locations,“ states Tabášek, offering a specific example.

The fact that OKD mines are safer than ever before is evidenced by values of the key occupational safety indicators. The number of injuries in 2010 dropped by almost one quarter year-on-year (from 346 to 271) and the lost time injury frequency rate as an internationally recognised parameter of occupational safety (number of hours lost /1 million hours worked) dropped from 11.29 to 8.61.

The PERSPektiva 2015 Programme sets the target value of LTIFR in 2015 at 5 and the mining company is determined to do whatever it takes to accomplish this target.

Marek Síbrt