Risk management in the hard coal mining industry: Social and environmental aspects of collieries’ liquidation

Abstract

In this article, the problem of environmental and social risk management during the process of colliery liquidation is considered. The identification and assessment of the sources of this risk was conducted on the basis of a review of international case studies and hard coal mining restructuring in Poland from 1993 to 2012. On the basis of conclusions from the analyses, basic assumptions were elaborated concerning the conception of environmental and social risk management during the process of colliery liquidation. Such a conception is based on including the sustainable development and corporate social responsibility in the total system of risk management in a mining enterprise. The approach presented in the article – considering the scale and extent of social and environmental effects of colliery liquidation – makes the internal decision-makers, as well as external stakeholders, aware of the necessity of undertaking anticipatory activities aimed at the reduction of social and environmental risks and effects during colliery liquidation.