BEIJING, Aug. 21 -- Workplace safety has improved in the past five years with fewer accidents and deaths reported, according to statistics from the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

In 2015, there were 281,576 workplace accidents in China, resulting in 66,182 deaths, compared with 363,383 accidents and 79,552 deaths in 2010, SAWS data showed. ( The 2015 figures represented a 22.5 percent decline in accidents and a 16.8 percent decline in deaths since 2010, according to SAWS.

There were 38 "major accidents" with 768 fatalities in 2015, compared with 85 major accidents with 1,440 fatalities in 2010.

SAWS defines a major accident as one that either kills over 10 people, injures over 50, or results in more than 50 million yuan (about 7.5 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses.

Industries including coal mining, railway transport and road transport all reported fewer accidents and deaths during this period.

In the past five years, China has made progress in the supervision and enforcement of workplace safety by improving infrastructure, creating stricter punishments, and specializing work in high-risk areas such as mining, rural roads and hazardous chemicals.