Expert’s Report on Soma Delivered to the Prosecution

According to the report signed by commission of experts, 20 instances of gross negligence which led to
the accident were identified.

1. Employer (Chairman of the Board)

2. General Manager, Operating Manager, Operating Assistant Manager

3. Mine Supervisor, Technical Supervisor 4. Technical Supervisor A significant determination in the

report was that the amount of coal Soma Kömür İşletmeleri contracted with the state to produce until
2017 had already been produced 3 years earlier. The determinations about the negligences are as
follows:

• The gas masks given by the company were not periodically inspected according to the regulations.
Institution of Forensic Medicine also confirmed that 85% of the 301 victims were killed due to carbon
monoxide poisoning.

• The ventilation system did not meet the requirements of a coal mine at that size. It should have been
reorganised. There were huge differences between the ventilation systems inside the mine and the
ventilation plans given to the experts committee.

• The 4 km long system which supply the mine with clean air was not sufficient enough.

• The register books, in which the carbon monoxide gas, oxygen, coal gas measurements were recorded,
were not filled regularly. The measurements from early days were found to be copied randomly.

• Most of the gas sensors in the mine (48 gas and 19 carbon monoxide gas sensor) were malfunctioned.
The sensors had calibration problems and could not read the datas properly.

• The carbon monoxide gas and temperature inside the mine were getting higher making the working
conditions unbearable since last February. Yet, the company officials in charge of security had not halted
the production.

• TKİ, which was the employer and also in charge of supervision of the facility, did not take the
measurement as stated in Mining Law. The numbers and reliabilities of the gas sensors, data
transmission systems were not supervised by TKİ.

• MTA (Mineral Research & Exploration General Directorate) violated Mining Law, not including the
electricity projects in the mine into engineeringservices. The workers were not given adequate training
about occupational health and safety.

• The coal inside the mine was burning, and the gas sensor controlling the air warned from the
beginning. Yet, the situation was not handled with care by the company officials.

• Ventilation method and system were not appropriate for a coal mine with risk of fire. The ventilator
and the aspirators were not qualified to be air flow reversers in case of a danger. This affected the
rescue operations negatively.

• The calibration of the gas sensors in the mine were not done by accredited bodies.
• The communication line could not be used during the accident because the communication
equipments were not confirmed to standards required underground.

• There was not a proper evacuation plan in the workplace

Collected from: http://www.miningturkeymag.com/pdfler/mak-1413460635.pdf

Main causes of accidents:

In a 2011 report by the Turkish Republic Presidency State Supervisory Council, similarities
regarding the causes of coal mine accidents are studied in detail: Lack of risk evaluation,
subcontracting5, sub-employing, production pressure, not learning lessons from previous
accidents, inadequate precautions against the risk of firedamp, inadequate control and inrush
borings, irregularities in drilling and blasting, employees not having CO masks, inadequacy in
gas monitoring and warning systems, inadequacy in ventilation, problems regarding electrical
devices and equipment that are firedamp-safe, inadequacies in vent-escapeways 6,
shortcomings in ground support7, problems regarding rescue and first aid services, insufficiency
in supervision (internal audit) services in mining businesses, problems regarding internal audit
practices such as technical supervisor, etc.
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5783105/)

History of soma mine disaster and where soma is: (please read them, I couldn’t due to slow net
connection, just look for if they have written something on soma mine disaster.)**

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/explained-the-soma-mine-disaster-in-five-questions-66590

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0174162

http://www.tepav.org.tr/upload/files/1457365736-
7.CONTRACTUAL_ARRANGEMENTS_IN_TURKEY___S_COAL_MINES.pdf

http://www.rmmagazine.com/2014/08/01/worlds-deadliest-mine-disasters/

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0174162

Rights of a miner:

If you are a miner:

 You have the right to receive health and safety training during your normal working hours and
to be paid for that time at your regular rate of pay.
 You have the right to have an inspector for time to time inspections at your mine
  You have the right to have health and safety inspections at your mine under certain
circumstances.
 Have a medical evaluation or are considered for transfer to another job location because of
harmful physical agents and toxic substances. For example, coal miners have the right to a chest
x-ray and physical examination for black lung disease (pneumoconiosis) and potential transfer to
a less dusty position if the diagnosis is positive.
 Withdraw from the mine for not having the required health and safety training.
 Refuse to work in conditions you reasonably believe to be unsafe or unhealthy.

Every Miner’s Responsibilities:

 Under the Act You have the responsibility to comply with all Federal and State laws and
regulations, and company safety and health policies.
 When refusing to work in unsafe or unhealthy conditions, you have the responsibility to notify
the operator, supervisor, or other responsible person.
 This gives the operator an opportunity to address the situation. You have the responsibility to
provide truthful statements and representations (orally or in writing) during any inspection or
investigation, or on any applications, records, reports, plans, training certificates, or other
documents required to be kept

Collected from: https://arlweb.msha.gov/S&HINFO/minersrights/MinersRights.pdf

P.S after mentioning rights and responsibilities of the miners, also enlist rights and responsibilities of
people in-charge (jader negligence er karone mine disaster hoyeche)

Research reference to help you understand plot:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753516303769 (read hypothesis carefully-
point no 5)**

Slides to help you get started:

 https://prezi.com/c6n7dn_7smjf/soma-mine-disaster-turkey/
 https://www.slideshare.net/snowiing/turkish-mine-fire?qid=7fac9a8d-41ba-4c17-8b82-
7e6f489ce447&v=&b=&from_search=1

Newspaper references:

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32709431
 https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/world/europe/rescuers-seek-survivors-in-turkey-mine-
disaster.html
 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/15/turkey-mine-disaster-unions-launch-
national-strike-live-updates