China remains haunted by work safety problems
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-03-10 09:35

Despite repeated government orders on work safety, on-the-job accidents remain the top threat to Chinese workers' life security.

"The situation of work safety in China remains dire. Coal mine and traffic accidents have occurred frequently and brought serious damage to the public," Premier Wen Jiabao said in his government work report delivered to the annual session of China's National People's Congress (NPC), the parliament.

Wen mentioned "work safety" 24 times in his report and listed it as one of the five protruding problems affecting China's social and economic development.

"I feel great pressure," Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), said in a panel discussion with NPC deputies from Shanxi Province, China's major coal base.

Since he was appointed director of the work safety administration early last year, Li has been driven from one coal accident site to another over the past year. His criticism of negligent local officials and mine owners has become increasingly vehement.

Experts attributed the frequent accidents to human negligence. "Many of the accidents could have been avoided if the laws and regulations were honestly observed," said Pu Hongjiu, vice chairman of the China Coal Industrial Association.

Pu said the problem of coal mine safety will be a long-term challenge to China since a large percentage of the country's mines are small with poor work safety facilities and owners and workers lacking safety knowledge.

To change the gloomy picture, China has taken tough measures. In 2005, the Chinese government closed down 5,243 illegal coal mines and coal mines without enough work safety facilities.

Li promised that tougher measures would be taken this year.

"We will enhance safety supervision on mines this year with the focus on gas emission control and the closure of dangerous mines," he said.

In addition, Huang Yi, spokesman for the SAWS, said the administration has set up an emergency response center in a bid to unite national forces to make sure that prompt rescuing actions will be taken whenever an accident happens.

Statistics show that China reported 3,341 coal mine accidents in 2005, which killed a total of 5,938 people.