Work safety watchdog to perform spot checks
( 2002-09-26 09:59 ) (1 )

A new round of nationwide spot checks will soon be conducted to combat workplace accidents, the State Administration of Work Safety announced on Wednesday in Beijing.

Particular attention will be given to small mines and factories and the dangerous-chemical industry.

Despite the nation's strengthened supervision efforts, many small private or township mines and enterprises have failed to give enough attention to the problem of workplace safety, with the result that many more human lives have been lost, according to the safety watchdog.

Workplace-safety supervision departments will not hold back in punishing violations of traffic rules to improve the safety of road, water and air transport, said Li Rongrong, minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission.

Violations of traffic rules and the illegal operation of agricultural vehicles and ships without licences are also major causes of accidents.

Workplace safety still looms large as a serious challenge given that more than 75,000 people lost their lives in over 631,000 workplace accidents, administration director Wang Xianzheng on Wednesday told a teleconference jointly organized by the administration and the State Economic and Trade Commission.

In a breakdown according to category, road collisions caused the most casualties.

The workplace-safety situation is gradually changing for the better especially since the State Council sent out special supervisory panels starting in July this year, said Li.

During the first eight months of this year, the number of serious accidents involving the deaths of 30 people or more declined year on year, said Li. The overall death toll from such accidents was also lower.

The number of accidents as a whole in the first eight months rose by 9 per cent year on year, compared to a growth rate of 20.7 per cent the year before. The death toll rose 4.5 per cent, compared to a year-on-year growth rate of 10.4 per cent in the first eight months of last year.

Thirteen provinces, regions and municipalities, such as Hainan Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Tianjin have had no accidents involving more than 30 fatalities, Li said.

Shanghai, Beijing, and Jiangsu and Fujian provinces all saw a decline in major accidents.