Kolkata, Feb 21 (PTI) Coal India Tuesday said deaths and accidents in its mines decreased by a third in 2022 bringing down the number of accidents to an all-time low of 20 in which 18 fatalities were reported.

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The reduction of 31 per cent from was the result of laser-like focus on ensuring the safety of its workers, the miner said.

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There were 29 accidents the previous year in which 27 people had died, the company said.

The safety statistics for CIL are calculated using a calendar year.

CIL and its seven coal-producing subsidiaries produced a total of 688 million tonnes of the dry fuel in 2022.

The company said in order to identify suitable solutions to consistently prevent accidents it implemented "Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Techniques," a process that involves investigating and analysing factors that contribute to accidents.

The company also signed an MoU with the Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to train 100 executives in RCA techniques and address underlying safety hazards.

It has also adopted the Tool Box Safety Talk, which evaluates safety-related risks before beginning mining operations, to raise employees' awareness of safety-related issues, CIL said in a statement.

Mine rescue and safety competitions are periodically held at the CIL mine areas in order to instill safety awareness on a more general level, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)