Failure to learn from the past: Persistent ventilation vulnerabilities in Turkish underground coal mines

Abstract Despite Turkish underground coal mine industry has experienced a series of disasters in the past, it seems that the industry could not be able to identify the persisting vulnerabilities and fail to learn from the past. This study explores the three recent disasters, Karadon (2010), Soma (2014), and Amasra (2022), to reveal the systemic problems in ventilation systems and practices in Turkish underground coal mines. In-depth analysis of the disasters identified improper mine/ventilation design, inefficient gas monitoring, faulty electrical equipment and improper ventilation practices as common patterns and primary factors. Moreover, the paper claims that deficiencies in mining legislation with inefficient enforcement, restricted access to documentation and knowledge as well as insufficient education and training of mining engineers have significant impact on the occurrence of underground coal mine disasters in Türkiye.