In order to meet statutory requirements concerning the workers health and safety, it is necessary for mine managers within Valea Jiului coal basin in Romania to address the potential for underground fires and explosions and their impact on the workforce and the mine ventilation systems. Highlighting the need for a unified and systematic approach of the specific risks, the authors are developing a general framework for fire/explosion risk assessment in gassy mines, based on the quantification of the likelihood of occurrence and gravity of the consequences of such undesired events and employing Root-Cause analysis method. It is emphasized that even a small fire should be regarded as being a major hazard from the point of view of explosion initiation, should a combustible atmosphere arise. The developed methodology, for the assessment of underground fire and explosion risks, is based on the known underground explosion hazards, fire engineering principles and fire test criteria for potentially combustible materials employed in mines.

This study explores the link between the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the process of identifying and assessing occupational risks in industrial and organizational environments, highlighting the importance of these goals in promoting a safe, healthy, and sustainable work environment. In the center of this analysis are SDG 3 (“Good Health and Well-Being”) and SDG 8 (“Decent Work and Economic Growth”), which highlight the need to create working conditions that prioritize the safety of workers. The study analyzes the correlation between the implementation of these global objectives and occupational risk management processes. Research results indicate that linking the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to these processes reduces the incidence of accidents and occupational diseases and also contributes to the achievement of global sustainability goals. An integrated approach improves the resilience of organizations, promotes equity in the professional environment, and supports sustainable economic development. The findings of the study offer important insights for policymakers, managers, and researchers, indicating that adopting a common framework for sustainability and occupational safety can bring significant benefits at local and global levels. Thus, the research encourages the widespread application of this integrative model in organizational policies and practices.

The article addresses the issue of disclosing Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues by corporations in Romania, under the influence of recent changes in the legislative framework imposed by the adoption of the EU Directive 2014/95/EU on non-financial reporting by large corporations exceeding 500 employees. The goal of our study consist in determining the relevant factors that influence the level of the Romanian companies’ OHS disclosure. To this end, we have compiled a sample of 35 organizations that have elaborated and published non-financial reports during 2016–2017 and we have analysed the impact of some relevant determinants upon the reporting phenomenon. With the aim of providing a clear picture of the regional context of our study, we put together many pieces of information regarding the corporations that played the trend-setters role in Romania, by disclosing corporate social responsibility (CSR)/sustainability reports between 2003 and 2017, although this practice has been characterized by a voluntary and unsteady approach in many cases. The importance of outlining the regional context of the Romanian reporting companies is given by the urge to raise the local managers’ level of awareness towards sustainability issues and to use the recent legislative changes as opportunities to catch up with more advanced EU countries. The research methods used in order to identify the interdependencies established between the key factors involved in the disclosure practices included a mixed quantitative-qualitative approach, and referred to: content analysis of sustainability reports; descriptive analysis of the statistical variables which were taken into consideration; correlation analysis of numerical variables; and the ANOVA method for investigating the interdependencies between the categorical and numerical variables. Among the influencing factors that impact with a greater or lesser intensity the quality of OHS reporting performed by the local companies, the following were highlighted: the corporations’ market share, their field of activity, and the ownership structure.

Purposeis development of the methods to predict indices of iron-ore deposits relying upon the improvement of available techniques as well as formulation of new geometrization procedures and identification of the most adequate decision-making way to assess geological data as the basis for geometrization and prediction. Methods are to develop a self-organizing prediction algorithm based upon combination of the available techniques and formulation of new mathematical methods; consider various means to assess them in the context of iron-ore deposit; and select the most efficient one. Use of geostatistical methods makes it possible to evaluate and process output geological information. The methods help assess mineral reserves of a mining enterprise. Findings. Dependencies of magnetite ore content upon geological factors have been derived in the context of an open pit of PIVDGZK JSC. The deposit has been geometrized; predictive mining and geometric model of the deposit site has been deve-loped. Factors have been determined influencing the distribution nature of the indices. Graphs to arrange grade indices of the deposit have been constructed. The graphs have helped predict their placement within the deposit. Originality. A method to predict mining and geological indices of iron-ore deposit has been developed relaying upon a self-organizing algorithm. Correlation between grade indices of minerals and different geological factors has been determined making it possible to describe spatial distribution of grade indices of the deposit. Practical implications. Geometrization methods for iron-ore deposits have been formulated. The methods help schedule mining operations accurately while improving their efficiency. The developed predictive self-organizing algorithm is the flexible tool used for various mining and geological conditions to provide scheduling and assessing of different mining methods. The self-organizing as well as geostatic evaluation techniques is quite a promising research tendency.

Annotation: In terms of mining and geological structure, ore deposits are complex-structured and composed of single, parallel-contiguous ore bodies. The reserves of barren or ore inclusions with the useful component content less than the cut-off grade of the deposit on the whole make 5-12% for natural-rich ores, and 10-15% for natural-lean ores. Application of conventional systems to mining complex-structured ore deposit areas underground reduces the iron content in the mined ore mass by 3-6% in relation to the main content of the useful component in the ore deposit or increases ore losses 1.5-2.0 times of the standard ones. This leads to a decrease in efficiency of mining the reserves, and as a result, a loss of the world sales market. Application of the resource-saving technologies reduces ore losses and dilution in underground mining, thereby reducing the cost of ore mass processing. As compared with conventional systems, the proposed options of mining systems with ore caving enable increasing the average iron content in the mined ore mass by 2.37-7.03% without increased ore production costs. These indicators are confirmed by laboratory tests on models with natural materials, considering the scale of modeling.