The Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, the representative of the legislative (representative) body of the Kemerovo region, Sergey Shatirov, was a guest of Vestnik Kavkaza program Tribune today. He spoke about ways to improve safety in the coal industry.
The senator stressed that the new legislation will help to find right solutions for improving cooperation between the oversight authorities and industrial enterprises, in particular the coal industry.
According to him, safety of people and facilities is the key reference point in professional training for Rostekhnadzor, the government agencies monitoring safety at the workplace. "Such professionals receive education in colleges, but they need to gain experience after graduation. I worked in the Federal Mining and Industrial Supervisory Authority of the USSR already after working in Vorkuta mines, so I know these things. You cannot do much in a mine without experience, it is simply impossible," he stressed.
Unfortunately, there is a number of difficulties with staff training, which legislators have to work on, Shatirov said. First of all, it is a discrepancy between the level of wages and the level of job complexity. "People working for the mining industry oversight should be at least chief engineers. I mean, experienced professionals. I am ashamed to say that an average salary of a mining inspector is 29 thousand rubles [less than $500] per month," the deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy said.
As for the training of future professionals, according to him, graduates of leading universities — Moscow State Mining University and St. Petersburg State Mining University — are not prepared to work in Siberia. Therefore, Kuzbass State Technical University is the main institution. "It was founded in 1954, when there was a shortage of personnel in the coal industry. The promising deposits in Siberia were found, and it was necessary to improve the Siberian coal industry," the MP said.
"Now it is a huge institution, and almost all of its students work in the industry after graduation. Today there are more than 11 thousand students and more than 1.2 thousand teachers. Today, it is a solid university offering education in all mining professions, including such an important profession as a surface and underground surveyor – mine surveyor. These mine surveyors from Kemerovo work throughout Russia," he noted.
Safety in the mining and in the coal industry is derived on the rules and regulations, which are gained with experience — after accidents and disasters, the senator reminded. "It is important that these rules are modern and adequate to the current level of development, the challenges facing the mining industry" Sergey Shatilov concluded.
