Risk management in coal-mines – Methodical proposal for polish and Czech hard coal mining industry

Effective risk management in coal mining companies may be achieved by adopting an integrated approach, i.e. IERM, which allows them to manage their risk exposure in a complete and complementary way. Risk needs to be properly identified, before it may be estimated, and later responded to adequately. This is a prerequisite for effective risk management in coal mining companies conducting their activities in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as other countries all over the world. In both countries, i.e. Poland and the Czech Republic, coal mines operate within the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, which means that their operating conditions are almost identical. It may then be possible to standardise risk management procedures and implement them in companies’ operations. This may be ensured by using the integrated risk management formula, outlined in this paper. Therefore, the paper aims to give an overview of the risk management problems experienced by coal mines, with the focus on the integrated enterprise risk management (IERM) concept, as well as proposing that the concept should be implemented in coal mines operating in Poland and the Czech Republic. In particular, it proposes that the traditional approach to the risk management process, i.e. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) should be modified and transformed into an integrated process. The paper uses the method of synthesis. It also contains a review of scientific literature on the subject.