Production safety is one of the problems of competitiveness of underground mining enterprises, one manifestation of which is the reduction and minimization of the number of accidents and incidents of personal injury or even death. To solve this problem, it is necessary to improve the system of production control of coal mines in order to eliminate these factors. Relative indicators of accidents and injuries at underground coal mines of Russia in comparison with the average indicators are considered, and also importance of the human factor in the occurrence of dangerous production situations and the evaluation of their causes and effects are revealed. In addition, the article considers the most common violations of safety requirements for underground coal mining, analyzes the experience of foreign countries in improving the production control system, assesses the possibility of its application for improving production control at Russian coal mines, and determines main areas for implementing a risk-based approach at coal mining enterprises.