Needs and possibilities in the area of methods and tools for employees’ age management in coal mines

An important problem of modern civilization is the aging of societies. The effect of this phenomenon is and will be limited access of enterprises to young and middle-aged employees. This problem also applies to coal mine. First and foremost, young and middle-aged employees work in them. Therefore it will be necessary to undertake actions aimed at stopping already working workers and employing older people in the case of shortages. Extending the employment time in mining enterprises requires a proper approach to this issue, in order to guarantee achievement of the assumed goals. It is therefore reasonable to look for methods and tools that support this process. Activities in this area should be focused on promoting and protecting health, improving workplace ergonomics, skills, and introducing an appropriate incentive system. In the case of the mining industry, this is particularly important because working in mines is very dangerous. This is mainly due to the occurrence of various types of threats of a random nature. The issue of the article concerns precisely this subject. It presents a method and proposals for the use of IT tools to support the process of managing the employees’ selection for specific workplaces. In practice, it is important to properly adjust the workplace and scope of work to the age and physical and mental employee’s capabilities. Therefore it is necessary to develop an appropriate system for allocating employees to the performed tasks. Such a solution must take into account many external and internal factors and be properly refined, both methodologically and in terms of tools. One of the tools that can be used in this area is the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) system. In the presented method, its application allows you to define workstations and assign them to a specific location on the map within the selected layer. Separate layers of the GIS system contain information on inconveniences that may occur on a given workstation, employees' competencies and forecasted threats. The location of the workplace on the map and its connection with the requirements and impediments should be a new approach to this problem. This should facilitate the process of selecting employees and planning their time in a given workstation. At the same time, it should be the basis for possible shaping (eg by redesigning it), such a workplace, so as to ensure optimal and safe working conditions. The proposed concept including the methodology and the necessary tools, also assumes full integration of the developed system with the systems supporting the management process already operating in the mine.