China to Link Economic, Work Safety Records

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing, 5 January: China will take the death rate per 100m yuan (12.3m US dollars) of the GDP as a norm in examining the national economy and social development, Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), has said. At a video- conference on work safety on Wednesday [4 January], Li said that work safety will become an important norm in examining achievements that concerned departments or enterprises have made.

The work safety watchdog will endeavour to find out those flouting and violating laws and supervision rules, abusing power for private gain or being neglectful of duty or obligation, and put them under the legal punishments, said Li. The SAWS will take measures in the first quarter of 2006 to prevent big and serious production accidents.

These measures include the elimination of the hidden risks of coal mine accidents by strengthening supervision, close of coal mines still unqualified after consolidation, enhancement of coal mine resource integration and coal mine gas controlling, improvement of management over coal mine construction projects, and putting those responsible under prosecution.

According to statistics of the SAWS, China saw 728,000 accidents in 2005, which represented 9.4 per cent lower year on year, leaving 126,760 people dead, a 7.3 per cent drop from a year ago. A total of 3,341 coal mine accidents were reported in 2005 with a year-on-year decrease rate of 8.2 per cent, killing 5,986 people, a little less than a year ago.