The Turkish Miners Association is organizing a mine rescue competition for the first time in Turkey. Five rescue teams working in different mines will compete under the supervision of international referees with realistic scenarios between September 10-13.

The Turkish Miners Association is organizing the first mine rescue competition in Izmir. The National Mine Search and Rescue Competition will be held at the Tüprag Efemçukuru Gold Mine Operation in Izmir between September 10-13, 2019.

Organizing a press conference in Izmir to promote the National Mining Search and Rescue Competition, Turkish Miners Association Board Chairman Ali Emiroğlu stated that they have implemented a mine rescue competition for the first time as an association, and that training on work accidents in mines has been increased and that they aim to keep the level of knowledge and awareness on this issue at the highest level with the competition.

Losses can be prevented with effective rescue

President Ali Emiroğlu stated that the competition has matured thanks to the drills carried out since December last year and noted that they aim to make the competition a tradition. Emiroğlu said, “I would like to express with pleasure that today, in addition to public teams, we see that private sector companies have also started to form professional teams in mine rescue. The fact that we are able to hold this competition, which will be held here today as a first in the history of Turkish mining, is a concrete example of these positive developments. We will all witness during the competition that the mine rescue teams in our country are now at the same level and in the same league as the world in terms of technology, equipment and competence.”

Emiroğlu, who stated that work accidents occur in all lines of business but fatal accidents are higher in mines, said: “The frequency of work accidents in mines is still high. Unfortunately, Turkey is not at the desired level in this regard. The majority of accidents occur in underground operations and unfortunately result in significant losses. These losses could have been prevented with effective search and rescue operations. Businesses have important duties in this regard. Emergency plans must definitely be created by businesses and competent teams must be formed in search and rescue, especially in occupational health and safety. More than 10 thousand rescuers have been trained since 1938. Today, we see that private sector companies are also becoming professional in mine rescue.”

5 competitors and 3 observer teams are participating

The Chairman of the Executive Board of the Competition, Göksel Alpaslan, said that when they looked at the search and rescue competitions in developed countries, they saw such a deficiency in Turkey and therefore they brought the National Mining Search and Rescue Competition to life. Alpaslan stated that the most competent teams trained in this field in Turkey participated in the competition as competitors and observers, and expressed their desire for the participation to increase over the years and for similar teams to be established in every mine. Alpaslan noted that Çayeli Copper Enterprises, ESAN Eczacıbaşı, Koza Gold Enterprises, Tüprag Efemçukuru Gold Mine and Turkish Coal Enterprises teams participated as competitors in the 3-day competition, while Polyak, İmbat and Tümad teams participated as observers. The teams will demonstrate their competencies in the categories of underground search and rescue, fire response, first aid intervention skills, team skills, vehicle accident response and respiratory kit.

Miners work with AFAD

Toplantıya katılan İzmir İl Afet ve Acil Durum Müdürlüğü (AFAD) Müdürü Osman Metin Saroğlu da, her türlü afete karşı hazırlıklı olunması gerektiğine dikkat çekerek, afetlere karşı dirençli bir toplum olmanın önemini hatırlattı. AFAD’ın önceliğinin risk ve zararları azaltmak olduğunu belirten Saroğlu, bunun için planlamalar yapılarak, hizmet gruplarının oluşturulduğunu ve arama kurtarma hizmet grubunun içine madencileri de dahil ettiklerini ifade etti. AFAD olarak bu yılı afetlere hazırlık yılı olarak belirlediklerini anlatan Saroğlu, “Her ay belli bir tema seçeceğiz. Bizim yer altında çalışanları kurtarma şansımız yok ama yer üstünde madencilerle bir aradayız” diye konuştu.