IMPORTANCE OF FAILURE MODES AND EFFECT ANALYSIS APPLICATION FOR RISK ANALYSIS IN BARAPUKURIA COAL MINE, BANGLADESH

Abstract

Because of the complex working situations, mining is known for being one of the most hazardous industries in the world. The working activities in such risky conditions in the underground coal mine often leads to many types of accidents. The working condition of Barapukuria Coal Mine (BCM) which is a producing underground coal mine in the North-western part of Bangladesh, has become insecure due to the lack of practising appropriate plan and methodology for reducing risk.Therefore, this study aims to assess the potential hazards by failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) method in BCM. FMEA is a quality management tool often used to identify possible failure mode by calculating a risk priority number (RPN) from severity, occurrence, and detection scores. A noteworthy aspect in FMEA is the estimation of RPN to prioritize failure modes. In this phase, a quality point scale (1-10) is typically used to measure the three facets of a failure mode's risks, and it indicates that the higher the score, the greater the chance of accidents. We have studied some accidents data in BCM it indicates that roof fall is more hazardous compared to other accidents. With the help of FMEA method, we have assessed causes and effects of accidents and finally recommended actions to reduce hazards. Therefore, an integrated approach is a burning necessity that can predict the risk before the actual mishaps and the FMEA can be a handy solution in this case as it is a robust tool for identifying multi-horizon risks and mitigating threats that can be strengthened further.