After the tragedy at the Listvyazhnaya mine, prosecutors revealed 449 violations of the legislation on safety and labor in the mines of Kuzbass, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation reported on November 29.
It is noted that from 26 to 29 November, 31 mines were inspected by prosecutors with the participation of specialists from the State Inspection Service, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rostekhnadzor, the State Fire Supervision, executive authorities of Kuzbass.
“Since the beginning of the inspection, 449 violations of the law have been identified, 180 cases of administrative offenses have been initiated, 19 submissions to eliminate violations of the law have been submitted, one protest has been brought and two warnings have been announced,” the department noted.
In particular, the specialists revealed the lack of work on the modernization of the positioning systems of miners and transport, the understaffing of workers at the sites, problems with the system for delivering people to the sites, the lack of safety briefings, the failure to provide personal protective equipment and overalls, the violation of the work and rest regime, as well as the lack of equipment, escape routes, wiring failure.
Based on the materials of the check, a criminal case was initiated on negligence, the accused was chosen a preventive measure in the form of detention, the Prosecutor General’s Office stressed.
On November 25, smoke began to develop at the Listvyazhnaya mine. The mishap killed 51 people, including five rescuers. Additionally, 76 people were injured during the emergency, of which 64 were hospitalized.
A criminal proceeding was initiated under Part 2 of Art on the incident. 217 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Violation of industrial safety requirements for hazardous production facilities, resulting in the death of a person by negligence”), as well as a criminal case on the fact of the negligence of employees of the Rostekhnadzor department.
According to the Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Dmitry Demeshin, before the tragedy, workers at the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kemerovo Region complained about the high level of methane.