Academic Journal of Science and Technology 
ISSN: 2771-3032 | Vol. 12, No. 1, 2024 

 

65 

Study	on	Prevention	System	Construction	of	Coal	Mine	
Gas	Accident	
Shudong He 1, 2 

1 China Coal Technology and Engineering Group Chongqing Research Institute, Chongqing 400037, China 
2 State Key Laboratory of Coal Mine Disaster Prevention and Control, Chongqing 400037, China 

 

Abstract: The occurrence of coal mine gas accident seriously affects the coal mine safety production. It has important practical 
significance and value to carry out the study of gas accident prevention. Based on the analysis of the characteristics and causal 
theories of coal mine gas accidents, a coal mine gas accident causation model was studied and constructed. A coal mine gas 
accident prevention system was proposed, which focuses on four aspects: safety policy guidelines and current situation analysis, 
coal mine gas safety evaluation, formulation and implementation of preventive measures, and inspection and feedback of 
measure effectiveness. The research ideas and conclusions can provide reference and guidance for the prevention and control of 
coal mine gas accidents in China to a certain extent. 

Keywords: Gas Accident; Theoretical Analysis; Causation Model; Prevention System; Safety Evaluation. 
 

1. Introduction 
Preventing coal mine gas accidents has become a major 

issue of concern for coal mine safety [1]. The occurrence of 
gas accidents involves many aspects of coal mine safety, and 
the influencing factors are numerous and variable [2-3]. At 
present, gas accident prevention mainly focuses on the 
construction of relevant laws and regulations, safety 
evaluation, and other aspects. The construction of laws and 
regulations related to coal mine safety in China started 
relatively late. The Coal Mine Safety Regulations issued by 
China in 2001, after continuous improvement and refinement, 
have now become the most authoritative basis and standard 
for coal mine production [4]. The prevention of coal mine 
accidents in foreign countries started earlier and has 
developed relatively well in various aspects. Moreover, 
foreign coal mine safety laws and regulations have dedicated 
regulatory systems to supervise and manage enterprises. In 
recent years, with the increasing attention paid to coal mine 
safety, research on safety evaluation has entered a new stage 
of development [5-6]. The application of modern 
mathematical theories, computer expert systems, decision 
support systems, and computer technology has opened up a 
broader prospect for security analysis and evaluation [7-10]. 

At present, there are common problems in the prevention 
system of coal mine gas accidents at home and abroad, such 
as one-sided accident analysis and single prevention mode. 
The effectiveness of the prevention system in practical 
application in coal mines is also not ideal [11]. Therefore, 
based on the analysis of the characteristics and causes of gas 
accidents, combined with the current situation of coal mine 
gas safety, it is of great practical significance to study and 
establish a systematic and comprehensive coal mine gas 
accident prevention system. 

2. Analysis of Characteristics of Coal 
Mine Gas Accidents 

2.1. Types of Coal Mine Gas Accidents 
There are three main types of coal mine gas accidents, 

namely gas suffocation, gas explosion, and coal and gas 

outburst.  
(1) Gas suffocation refers to a personnel suffocation 

accident caused by an increase in gas content, resulting in a 
decrease in air content in the underground space and 
insufficient oxygen content. When the gas concentration 
exceeds 57%, the oxygen concentration in the air will 
decrease to below 10%. If it enters tunnels, single headed 
alleys, etc. with undetected gas content, it can lead to hypoxia, 
suffocation, and even death of personnel. 

(2) Gas explosion is a chain reaction, which is essentially a 
violent oxidation reaction produced by the action of a certain 
concentration of methane and oxygen. The chemical reaction 
equation can be written as: 

 
                (1) 

The conditions for gas explosion are: a certain 
concentration of gas (5%~16%), a high-temperature fire 
source (650℃~750℃), and sufficient oxygen (over 12%). 
The harmful factors of coal mine gas explosions mainly 
include high temperature, shock waves, and harmful gases. 

(3)  Coal and gas outburst is a phenomenon that coal (rock) 
and gas are ejected into the mining space at an extremely fast 
speed in a very short time during the underground mining 
process of coal mines, under the combined effect of ground 
stress, gas and the physical and mechanical properties of coal. 
Ground stress and the physical and mechanical properties of 
coal are conditions for triggering outburst, while gas is a 
necessary condition for achieving outburst. Highlighting can 
not only destroy tunnel facilities, damage ventilation systems, 
and cause casualties, but in severe cases, it can also cause gas 
combustion or explosion, leading to the occurrence of fires 
and roof accidents [12-13]. 

2.2. Characteristics of Coal Mine Gas 
Accidents 

Through statistical analysis of coal mine gas accidents that 
have occurred in China over the years, it is summarized that 
coal mine gas accidents in China have the following 
characteristics [2,12,14-16]: 

(1) Coal mine gas accidents pose significant hazards. The 

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consequences of coal mine gas accidents are severe, with 
huge economic losses and heavy casualties. With the 
increasing attention paid to gas accidents, the number of 
deaths from gas accidents each year gradually decreases, but 
still accounts for about 25% of all deaths. 

(2) Coal mine gas accidents occur frequently. Statistical 
analysis of the number of major coal mine accidents in the 
past two decades shows that gas accidents account for 65% of 
all major accidents, equivalent to four times the number of 
coal mine roof accidents, and are the greatest threat to coal 
mine safety production. 

(3) There are significant differences among coal mining 
enterprises of different natures. The mortality rate of gas 
accidents per million tons in state-owned key coal mines is 
1/3 and 1/8 of that in state-owned local coal mines and 
township individual coal mines, respectively. The root cause 
lies in the inadequate management and weak safety awareness 
of local township coal mines compared to state-owned key 
coal mines. 

(4) There are significant regional differences. The regional 
differences in gas occurrence have led to significant regional 
differences in coal mine gas accidents in China. Statistical 
analysis of gas accidents in recent years shows that Guizhou 
has the highest number of gas accidents in China, followed by 
Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Shanxi. 

(5)  Highly influenced by management factors. 
Management errors are a prominent cause of coal mine gas 
accidents. Investigation and analysis have found that state-
owned and large coal mines have a lower probability of gas 
accidents compared to township and small coal mines. Many 
human errors, material defects, and environmental 
degradation that lead to coal mine gas accidents ultimately 
stem from significant deficiencies in the safety production 
management of coal mining enterprises. 

3. Theoretical Analysis of the Causes of 
Gas Accidents in Coal Mines 

3.1. The Proposal of the Cause Theory of Coal 
Mine Gas Accidents 

To prevent accidents from occurring, describing the 
essence of accidents through theories and models is called 
accident causation theory. This theory reflects the laws of 
accidents and can provide quantitative and qualitative 
analysis of accidents. While learning from experience and 
lessons, it also provides a basis for safety evaluation of similar 
accidents in the future. Representative accident causation 
theories include: human error theory, management error 
theory, accident causality theory, trajectory intersection 
theory, energy transfer theory, etc. [17]. 

The early theories on the causes of coal mine gas in China 
were limited by the level of technology and the times, and 
failed to deeply understand the essential reasons for accidents. 
With the deepening of research on coal mine accidents, 
especially the development and application of system safety 
theory, a comprehensive analysis method for the causes of 
coal mine gas accidents has been proposed. This method 
analyzes the causes of accidents from the perspectives of 
human, machine, environment, and management at a deep 
and multiple levels. 

Through the analysis of numerous coal mine gas accident 
cases, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) The direct 
causes of gas accidents are generally composed of three 
factors: unsafe human behavior, unsafe state of objects, and 

unsafe environment. Two or three factors among them jointly 
contributed to the occurrence of the accident. (2) The main 
indirect causes of gas accidents are defects in people, objects, 
environment, and information. The existence of defects leads 
to unsafe behaviors, states, and environments. (3) The indirect 
causes of accidents are not out of thin air, and defects in 
people, objects, environment, and information are also caused 
by certain reasons. Management defects are the fundamental 
cause of coal mine gas accidents. 

In summary, the causal theory of coal mine gas accidents 
in China can be summarized as follows: the occurrence of 
coal mine gas accidents is fundamentally due to the 
emergence of management defects, which bring about defects 
in various aspects such as people, objects, environment, and 
information. These defects blend and affect each other, 
leading to unsafe human behavior, unsafe state of objects, and 
unsafe environment. These three factors combine in a certain 
time and space, ultimately leading to the occurrence of coal 
mine gas accidents. 

3.2. Establishment of Causal Model for Coal 
Mine Gas Accidents 

By analyzing the cause theory of coal mine gas accidents, 
a corresponding coal mine gas accident cause model is 
established as shown in Figure 1. The first layer of the model 
is the fundamental cause of accidents - management reasons, 
the second layer is the indirect cause of the accident - defects 
in people, objects, environment, and information, and the 
third layer is the direct cause of accidents - unsafe human 
behavior, unsafe state of objects, and unsafe environment. 
The combination of the unsafe state of objects and the unsafe 
environment among these three forms a hidden danger. Once 
the hidden danger is triggered by human unsafe behavior, it 
can lead to accidents. From the model, it can be seen that 
management factors not only affect people and information, 
but also, in turn, influence the decisions of managers. In 
addition, information defects are often fatal. They can not 
only induce managers to make mistakes in management, but 
also directly lead to unsafe behavior of people, unsafe state of 
things, and unsafe environment. 

 
Figure 1. Causal model of coal mine gas accidents 

3.3. Analysis of Causal Model for Coal Mine 
Gas Accidents 

Based on the analysis of the direct causes of gas accidents, 
it can be concluded that human unsafe behavior refers to the 
"three violations" that affect the occurrence of gas accidents, 
namely illegal command, illegal operation, and violation of 
labor discipline [18]. These behaviors are the direct causes of 
coal mine gas accidents. The unsafe state of objects refers to 
the lack of necessary equipment and facilities related to coal 



 

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mine gas safety, or the improper operation of these equipment 
settings. Coal mine gas accidents are largely caused by these 
safety facilities and equipment being in an unsafe state. 
Unsafe environment generally refers to the natural and 
operational conditions that directly cause coal mine accidents. 
In coal mine gas accidents, unsafe environment mainly refers 
to the accumulation and outburst of gas. 

Based on the analysis of the indirect causes of gas accidents, 
it can be concluded that human defects refer to the 
shortcomings and shortcomings of coal mine employees 
themselves, mainly in terms of human habits, psychological 
states, and other aspects. Human defects prompt people to 
engage in unsafe behavior, which in turn leads to accidents. 
The defects of materials mainly refer to insufficient 
investment in safety, incomplete facilities, and non-standard 
protective devices in coal mining enterprises, which reduce 
the resistance of coal mines to gas accidents. The defects in 
information mainly include information defects in the 
production process, information defects of internal managers, 
and external information defects of the enterprise. 
Information defects induce managers to make mistakes in 
decision-making. Environmental defects refer to the adverse 
natural conditions and working environment that may lead to 
accidents. The numerous gas mines, complex geological 
conditions, and high incidence of natural disasters in China, 
coupled with unreasonable ventilation design and mining 
replacement, further pose higher challenges to the safety 
production of coal mines in China. 

Based on the analysis of the fundamental causes of gas 
accidents, it can be concluded that the deficiencies in coal 
mine management include two aspects: internal management 
deficiencies within the enterprise and external management 
deficiencies within the enterprise. The internal safety 
management of enterprises should be responsible for the 
entire safety production process, which is the core and key to 
coal mine safety production. It mainly includes safety 
management rules and regulations, production 
responsibilities, management institutions, safety investment, 
and training and education. External management 
deficiencies of enterprises refer to the supervision and 
management of coal mines by the government and coal mine 
safety supervision departments outside the enterprise. 
Through safety inspections, safety hazards in coal mines can 
be identified in a timely manner, and they can be urged to 
rectify them to prevent coal mine accidents from occurring. 

4. Coal Mine Gas Accident Prevention 
System 

Coal mine gas accidents are caused by multiple factors 
working together. To fundamentally reduce the occurrence of 
gas accidents, it is necessary to establish and improve a 
reliable and effective coal mine gas accident prevention 
system, and control the risk factors of coal mine gas accidents. 

4.1. Construction of Coal Mine Gas Accident 
Prevention System 

The establishment of a coal mine gas accident prevention 
system should first fully analyze the evolution process of coal 
mine gas accidents. On the basis of analyzing the causal 
model of coal mine gas accidents, the evolution process of the 
accident is vividly represented, and the evolution model of 
gas accidents is shown in Figure 2. The danger incubation 
period, development period, and outbreak period in Figure 2 

correspond to three different coal mine gas safety states: 
safety, danger, and accident. In a safe state, the possibility of 
gas accidents is extremely low, and defects in people, objects, 
environment, etc. are in the latent period. In a dangerous state, 
the probability of coal mine gas accidents increases, and 
unsafe behaviors, states, and environments caused by defects 
are in a dangerous development period. Dangerous factors 
interact and influence each other within a certain time and 
space, and are stimulated by certain factors, ultimately 
leading to the occurrence of gas accidents. Therefore, only by 
controlling defects in people, objects, environment, 
information, and other aspects within the danger incubation 
period can the occurrence of gas accidents be fundamentally 
reduced. 

 
Figure 2. Evolution model of gas accidents 

 
The current coal mine gas accident prevention system in 

China has problems such as one-sided accident analysis and 
single prevention modes. Based on the analysis of the 
characteristics and causes of coal mine gas accidents, 
combined with the current situation of coal mine gas safety, a 
systematic, comprehensive, and practical coal mine gas 
accident prevention system has been established, as shown in 
Figure 3. 

 
Figure 3. Coal mine gas accident prevention system 

 
Starting from the analysis of the causes of coal mine gas 

accidents, the prevention system organizes and statistically 
analyzes a large amount of accident case data to determine the 
causes of gas accidents, thereby making the prevention of coal 
mine gas accidents rational and systematic. The coal mine gas 
accident prevention system includes four parts: analysis of 
safety policy guidelines and gas prevention and control status, 
coal mine gas safety evaluation, formulation and 
implementation of preventive measures, and inspection and 
feedback of measures effectiveness. These four aspects are 
closely connected to form a scientifically reasonable 
prevention system. 



 

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4.2. Coal Mine Gas Safety Evaluation 
Coal mine gas safety evaluation refers to analyzing the 

various factors of coal mine gas accidents based on the current 
situation of coal mine gas, identifying the existing problems, 
and presenting them in qualitative and quantitative forms to 
formulate corresponding preventive measures. The existing 
safety evaluation methods include comprehensive analysis 
method, fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, analytic 
hierarchy process, accident tree analysis method, safety 
checklist method, etc. Based on the actual situation of coal 
mine gas accidents, the comprehensive safety evaluation 
method is a suitable method for coal mine gas safety 
evaluation, which is in line with the purpose of coal mine gas 
safety evaluation. 

By combining the causal model of coal mine gas accidents 
and extracting typical cases of gas accidents in China for 
analysis, it can be concluded that the corresponding primary 
indicators affecting coal mine gas safety are safety 
management factors, personnel quality factors, equipment 
and facility guarantee factors, environmental factors, and 
information factors. These five factors work together to affect 
the safety of coal mine gas. Conduct statistical analysis on the 
main influencing factors under each primary indicator, for 
example, safety management factors include seven aspects: 
safety regulations and systems, technical management, safety 
management institutions, safety inspections, safety 
investment, emergency rescue system, and external 
supervision. The analysis of the main influencing factors 
under other primary indicators will be extended accordingly, 
and will not be further elaborated here. 

4.3. Development and Implementation of 
Preventive Measures 

The prevention system should not only identify the defects 
and hidden dangers in coal mine gas safety, but also eliminate 
them to ensure the safe production of coal mines. Therefore, 
it is necessary to develop and implement coal mine gas 
accident prevention measures. The formulation of accident 
prevention measures must follow the principles of pertinence, 
rationality, and economic optimization. The process of 
formulating coal mine gas accident prevention measures is 
shown in Figure 4. For the implementation of prevention 
measures for coal mine gas accidents, the first step should be 
to allocate relevant responsibilities and work based on the 
formulated prevention measures, clarify the work content of 
each person, and formulate corresponding job responsibilities 
accordingly. Secondly, a detailed implementation plan should 
be developed to ensure the implementation of 
countermeasures from the perspectives of responsible persons, 
methods, costs, time, etc. 

 

 
Figure 4. Flow chart of formulating prevention measures for coal 

mine gas accidents 

4.4. Inspection and Feedback on the 
Effectiveness of Measures 

The inspection of the implementation effect of preventive 
measures requires that the implementation effect inspection 
must be carried out during and after the implementation of the 
measures. The implementation effect inspection can be 
divided into two types: one is a separate effect analysis 
applied during the implementation process, which refers to 
the analysis of the implementation effect after the preventive 
measures have been implemented to a certain stage. This 
effect analysis is combined with the implementation and 
review of the countermeasures, and is a part of the 
implementation of the countermeasures. Another type is 
overall effect analysis, which refers to the analysis of the 
overall effect after the implementation of countermeasures. 
After the conclusion is drawn through the implementation 
effect test, if the hidden dangers have been eliminated and the 
prevention purpose has been achieved, the entire prevention 
process will be organized and archived as a reference for 
future accident prevention. If the hidden danger of the 
accident still exists, it is necessary to summarize the reasons 
and lessons of the ineffective measures, and formulate more 
effective preventive measures according to the prevention 
system, in order to achieve feedback on the effectiveness of 
the measures. 

5. Conclusion 
A study was conducted on the construction of a coal mine 

gas accident prevention system. Based on the analysis of the 
characteristics and causal theory of coal mine gas accidents, 
a causal model suitable for coal mine gas accidents was 
established. Finally, a coal mine gas accident prevention 
system was proposed, which includes four aspects: safety 
policy guidelines and current situation analysis, coal mine gas 
safety evaluation, formulation and implementation of 
preventive measures, and inspection and feedback of measure 
effects. This provides reference and basis for coal mine gas 
governance and prevention work. 

Acknowledgments 
The study was supported by Key Project of middling coal 

Technology and Industry Group Chongqing Research 
Institute Co., Ltd. (2022ZDXM09, 2022-2-TD-ZD010) and 
Chongqing Talent Plan Project (CQYC20210301417).  

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