Ensuring Safety of Industrial Cargo by Rail Transportation at the Mining Enterprises

Abstract

The common problem was studied concerning the personnel safety and the operation of railway transport during industrial cargo transportation. Statistical and technical analysis were conducted related to the conditions and reasons of railway accidents caused by various hazardous factors and occurred over the past 15 years in the mining industry of Russia. The study based on natural, technical, and organizational factors showed that there is a steady tendency towards the preservation of the number of accidents such as train collisions, fires, and derailments. Despite the measures taken, such accidents do occur resulting in fatal accidents. The situation is explained by the fact that safety of rail transport is conditioned by the factors that can be divided into difficult-to-control and complex (coordinated by action). The differences between complex factors caused by the railway technology and difficult-to-control factors, which include natural factors or their combination with the stimulated factors are studied in the article. Study of the evidence including the details of the development of fires and derailments of trains from the rails, the consequences of such accidents and conclusions about their causes shows that the additional calculations and classification of the difficult-to-control factors in combination with other causes allow to give a more detailed assessment of the nature of difficult-to-control factors and the interrelationship between them. Through this it becomes possible to detect the maximum number of violations. It is concluded that improving railway safety is possible only with a differentiated approach to the role of each group of factors including difficult-to-control factors, and the ability of personnel to influence the occurrence and development of accidents. The time characteristics of railway accidents are considered. The idea of automated information filtering of clogged messages in the analysis of accidents is formulated.