Major accidents from gas explosions have a high rate of occurrence in Chinese coal mines. The frequency of major gas explosion accidents between the years 1980-2000, and the years 2001-2010 was reviewed. Case studies were also compared. The study of direct causes indicates that during the period 2001-2010 the proportion of accidents caused by deliberate violation was reduced by 31.13% compared with data from 1980 to 2000. However the proportion of accidents caused by mismanagement rose by 32.38% during this period. Direct causes of high occurrence rate accidents include deliberate violations such as illegal blasting, conducting maintenance with the power on, and mismanagement behaviors such as chaotic electromechanical management and chaotic ventilation management. The study of environmental characteristics shows that the proportion of accidents occurring in the heading faces increased by 27.18%. The study of human factors indicates that deliberate violation behaviors showed a high utility -high cost factor. Mismanagement behaviors showed strong correlation with responsibility awareness and weak correlation with technological ability. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.