The Skills of Miners at the Final Stage of Mining Technology in the Japanese Coal Industry

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K22152
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0108:Sociology and related fields
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Shimizu Taku 早稲田大学, 文学学術院, 助教 (80875203)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 石炭産業 / 炭鉱労働 / 熟練・技能 / 生産職場 / 自然－装置－人間 / 炭鉱技術 / 太平洋炭砿

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examines how miners worked at the coal face in the 1990s. In Japan's coal mining industry, the longwall mining system, combined with shield supports, the shearer, the armored face conveyor, and the stage loader, was in operation from late-1960s. Under this integrated system, multiple equipment linked together mechanically, and operated continuously.
When the integrated system operated normally, there was almost no need to do heavy manual work. It required miners to master skills to operate the equipment accurately. However, because of overwhelming forces of nature, the workplace condition was sometimes uncontrollable. It was always changing and often got worse. In poor condition, the system was not able to function. At that time, only manual work could correct this. This work required miners to have the kind of traditional miners’ skills based on manual labor. Thus, workers at the coal face in the 1990s had to have both equipment-based skills and manual labor-based skills.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

社会科学においてはこれまでも石炭産業は研究対象となってきたが、その関心の対象は概ね1970年代までであり、1980年代以降の最終的撤退期の生産職場は研究対象とされてこなかった。本研究は、日本石炭産業の技術的到達点ともいうべき1990年代の「採炭プラント」における労働のありようを明らかにし、これまでの研究上の空白を補った。また、近年、環境への国際的な関心の高まりのなかで、人新世に関する議論も活発化している。人間と石炭のかかわりの歴史は、人新世の議論においても欠かすことはできない。本研究は、その検討材料を提供することができる。