Miners benefit as industry gets smart

New systems improve safety for workers

For several decades, Liu Chunling, 58, spent her days waiting for family members to return home safely from work in coal mines.

If they were late arriving, she feared they had been involved in accidents.

The mining industry has long put food on her family's table in Zaozhuang, Shandong province.

For many years, Liu worked at a coal preparation plant. Her father, now 88, was a miner, as was her husband before he retired, while her son has worked underground at a mine for the past 16 years.

"I am so relieved and grateful that my father and husband went through tough times but retired safely, although both of them now have rheumatism and my father lost two toes in an accident, which has left him unsteady on his feet," Liu said.

However, she no longer worries about the safety of her son, Meng Zhan, 38, after he showed her the smart facilities now being used at the coalface, the area of the mine where the coal is extracted.

Meng works at the Gaozhuang Mine in Jining, which is owned by Zaozhuang Mine Group Co, part of the Shandong Energy Group. The company is the second-largest coal production conglomerate in China in terms of annual production.

Meng said: "When our mine was equipped with the smart system last year, I made a video call to show my parents how the coal was collected and transported to the surface with automated machinery. They were so impressed.

"They brought my grandpa to watch the call. They could not believe that the jobs previously done underground by many workers can now be carried out by machines."