A new approach to determining the yield of volatile substances from coals in relation to explosion safety, including expert work in emergency mines during explosions, is considered. The results are based on complex experiments, including explosive tests and thermogravimetric studies of gases of various stages of metamorphism: from long-flame (grade D) to coking (grade K). Thermogravimetric studies were supplemented by explosive experiments in a 20-liter chamber, and more than 60 dust samples from emergency mine sites were also studied. Refined “stage-by-stage” indicators of the yield of volatile substances for solving dust explosion problems, which have significant advantages over the standard method of quasi-isothermal heating of dust in a muffle furnace, have been proposed and practically worked out. Methods of thermogravimetric determination of moisture and ash content of samples, as well as the yield of volatile substances at various stages of heating, with separation of the yield of combustible and non-combustible gases, have been developed. Non-overlapping intervals of the thermal reaction are identified: moisture yield (25-130 °C); heat-resistant heating (180-350 °C); primary yield of volatile substances PVS (350-600 °C); secondary yield of volatile substances SVS (600-750 °C); thermal degradation of mineral inclusions and inert dust CDS (750-840 °C). For emergency conditions, the stages of steady decrease and growth of the yield of volatile substances from post-explosive samples are determined and a criterion for the participation of coal dust in the explosion is formulated. The modified criterion makes it possible to numerically recognize the fact of dust participation in an explosion, determine the epicenter of deflagration combustion, and study the dynamics of the explosion over a mining network while determining the effectiveness of dust and explosion protection.