Production Accidents Kill 1,470 People in Yunnan in Six MonthsAccidents at factories and mines claimed the lives of 1,470 people and wounded another 3,332 in Yunnan Province, southwest China, in the first half of this year.An official with the provincial safe production commission said Monday that about 80 percent of the dead and wounded people were farmer-turned factory workers or miners. The farmer-turned factory workers or miners were the major victims of the accidents, however, many of them were directly responsible for the accidents, according to a provincial government official. Most of them do not have much training in the area of factory work or mining and are not knowledgeable about the necessary safety precautions to take while doing these jobs, said the official. As it is the case in other parts of the country, quite a number of farmers with less education and temporary workers without special training in Yunnan Province have been seeking jobs in urban business ventures or township enterprises, with the mushrooming of the non-public ownership economy. Statistics indicate that nearly 60 percent of the accidents taking place in the province and claiming people's lives in the first half of this year were caused due to violations of operation procedures and work disciplines. The Yunnan provincial government has required all of the rural mines and 52 fireworks factories to suspend production until the problems hindering safe production are solved. |
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