From the mine to the fire department
Challenges for occupational safety in underground work
Safety underground – once the task of mine rescue teams, now a challenge for the future. Dr. Bodo Bernsdorf (Post-Mining Research Center) uses a practical example to show which solutions are needed in mining after the phase-out of coal.
Event has already taken place
4.
December
2025
4. December 2025 – 4. December 2025
Querenburg Branch Library Querenburger Höhe 270 44801 Bochum
Free
Speaker: Dr. Bodo Bernsdorf, Research Associate at the Research Center for Post-Mining
December 4 is Saint Barbara’s Day, known as the patron saint of miners. In everyday working life, safety is primarily provided by the mine rescue service, a combination of rescue service and underground fire department.
However, with the planned phase-out of coal by 2030, the number of trained mine rescue personnel is falling dramatically. At the same time, raw material extraction will continue in Germany and could even gain in importance in the future due to global developments. New concepts must be developed to secure this essential expertise in the long term. Using a practical example—an underground surveying task carried out by the Post–Mining Research Center at the Henrichshütte in Hattingen—current challenges and possible solutions will be presented and discussed.
Knowledge roundtable on security: Public, private, digital—how (un)secure are we really?
The event is part of our Knowledge Roundtable series. In collaboration with vhs Bochum and Bochum City Library, we invite experts (almost) every month to shed light on the current annual theme of the House of Knowledge from different perspectives and disciplines. In 2025, this theme is: Security! Whether pandemics, resource shortages, climate events, data theft, or geopolitical conflicts—they all influence our sense of security. That is why we are asking ourselves the following question in the 2025 Knowledge Roundtable: Public, private, digital—how (un)safe are we really?
HdW_Flyer_Wissensrunde_2025_Halbjahr2_RZ_NEU_WEB.pdf
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