Coal Mine Accident Rings Alarm over China's Workplace Safety

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, May 21, 2002

Coal Mine Accident Rings Alarm over China's Workplace Safety

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Although rescue efforts are continuing to save the 20 missing miners entombed on May 4 in the unlicensed Fuyuan Coal Mine in Yuncheng City, north China's Shanxi Province, hopes for their survival are gradually fading out.

The accident, unreported until insiders informed local and central government departments in charge of workplace safety, is only one in a raft of similar mishaps in China over the past few months.

Statistics show that 745 coal mine accidents occurred during the first three months of this year around the country, killing 1,182 people. Another 329 died in April.

The Chinese government has attached great importance to safety in coal mines nationwide. Thousands of unsafe and small coal mines that fail to qualify for licensing have been shut down in recent years.

However, the decrease in the number of coal mines has helped push up coal prices, enticing some mine owners to continue their illegal production despite the risk of severe punishment.

The Yuncheng accident was reported eight days later

Zhang Shunhe, owner of Fuyuan Coal Mine, not only covered up the recent accident but also tried to prevent the usual investigation into the incident.

Similar attempts to cover up the truth also occurred after the Nandan coal mine accident which claimed 81 lives in southern China last year.

But media reports say that the Fuyuan case is even worse.

While rescue workers are trying to find survivors, local governments in Yuncheng and neighboring Hejin City are still debating over who is responsible for the coal mine, further slowing down rescue efforts, local sources say.

Experts say that local government's failure to carry out regular safety inspections and the red tape over handling safety problems also contribute to the frequency of workplace accidents.

Gong Anku, director of Shanxi Provincial Department of Workplace Safety Supervision, told Xinhua that the Yuncheng accident was first reported to the State Administration for Safe Production Supervision on May 12, eight days after the tragedy.

The media has played a vital role in informing the public and the government about the tragedy, observers say.

A special team from the State Administration for Safe Production Supervision are still probing the Yuncheng accident, according to Gong.

China to launch a nationwide workplace safety inspection

These fatal coal mine accidents have rung alarm for government departments in charge of workplace safety.

Premier Zhu Rongji earlier this month urged governments at all levels and enterprises to launch a nationwide workplace safety inspection.

Workplace safety is crucial to the security of people's property and lives as well as social stability, Zhu said at a high-level meeting.

Observers say that the call for workplace safety shortly after two plane crashes and a series of traffic accidents and coal mine explosions, demonstrates the government's determination to safeguard people's interests.

The government is using the cases to remind officials not to cheat the people but behave responsibly as they were elected to do.

According to China's rules on responsibility for serious workplace accidents, individuals directly responsible as well as relevant government officials will be punished.

To lessen workplace accidents, The State Administration for Safe Production Supervision and the Committee for Workplace Safety under the State Council were established in 2001, as an important move in watching and guaranteeing workplace safety in China.

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