The Current Situation of Work Safety and Focuses on Work Safety - State Administration of Work Safety

25 July 2003
The Current Situation of Work Safety and Focuses
on Work Safety at the Next Stage

The State Administration of Work Safety

April 16, 2003

[Taken from official CHinese government website : http://www.china.org.cn/e-news/news03-0416.htm]

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1.Situation of work safety of the first quarter of this year all over China

The situation of work safety in China was generally stable in the first quarter of this year. However, major and fatal accidents did occur now and then and the situation of work safety in some sectors still remain grim. According to the statistics collected by the SAWS Accident Statistics Center, in the first season this year, 258,597 accidents of all kinds occurred with the death toll of 31,035 persons, a reduction of 6.5% and 2.7% respectively compared with the same period last year. Among which:

1. 73,223 road accidents with the death toll of 25,395 persons, a reduction of 5.5% and 3.8% respectively compared with the same period last year;

2. 611 casualty accidents in coal mines with the death toll of 1,090 persons, a reduction of 18% and 7.8% respectively compared with the same period last year. The fatality rate per million tons of coal produced is 3.58, a reduction of 1.2% compared with the same period last year;

3. 294 casualty accidents in non-coal mines and enterprises with the death toll of 396 persons, an increase of 12.2% and 11.8% respectively compared with the same period last year;

4. 1,161 casualty accidents in non-mine enterprises with the death toll of 1,047 persons, a reduction of 11.3% and 10.6% respectively compared with the same period last year. Among which 263 accidents happened in the construction sector with the death toll of 291 persons, an increase of 6.5% and 11.8% respectively compared with the same period last year;

5. 80,159 fire accidents(excluding forest fires and grassland fires, etc.) with the death toll of 770 persons, a reduction of 8.8% and 4.4% respectively compared with the same period last year;

6. 129 water traffic accidents with 97 persons dead or missing, a reduction of 27.1% and 3% respectively compared with the same period last year;

7. 3,004 off-railway casualty accidents with the death toll of 2,185 persons.

In the first quarter of this year, 40 fatal and very serious accidents with the death toll of more than 10 persons each happened in China, an increase of 8 accidents compared with the same period last year. A total of 692 persons were dead, an increase of 180 persons compared with the same period last year. Among the above-mentioned 40 accidents, there were 4 very serious ones each involving total death of more than 30 persons. The total death toll in this category is 178 persons.

These very serious accidents are respectively listed below:

8. On January 11, a mine gas explosion accident happened in Baoxing Coal Mine in Fangzheng County, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. 34 persons were killed;

9. On February 2, a fire accident happened Tiantan Hotel, Daowai District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. 33 persons were killed;

10. On February 24, a gas explosion accident happened in Muchonggou Coal Mine of Shuicheng Mining Group in Guizhou Province. 39 persons were killed;

11. On March 22, a gas explosion accident happened in Mengnanzhuang Coal Mine in Yima Township of Xiaoyi City, Luliang Prefecture, Shanxi Province. 72 persons were killed.

These very serious accidents brought about grave loss to the lives and properties of the masses to which both the Chinese Communist Party leadership and the Chinese government attached great importance. Leaders of the Party and the State had made official comments in succession on these accidents.

The State Council had studied the special issues on work safety at its routine meetings; the General Office of the State Council issued special urgent notice on further intensifying work safety. On April 8, the State Council convened a national teleconference on work safety. At the teleconference, Mr. Huang Ju, the permanent vice premier of the State Council addressed an important speech. He requested that the governments at all levels and every department concerned should fully realize the extreme importance of work safety. Huang Ju stressed that in view of the current weak links, effective measures should be taken in terms of organization and leadership, the working system, the supervision structures and means and methods in order to guarantee that every aspect of work safety is fully carried out.

Huang Ju also said that an all-round major inspection on work safety be organized and conducted immediately to completely eliminate all kinds of hidden dangers that may result in accidents and effective measures for rectification be worked out. The inspection and rectification should be focused on the sectors of coal mines and road traffic as well as the fire prevention and safety for all places of public gatherings. The work safety responsibility system should also be practically carried out to the full. The responsibility system of work safety should be further improved according to the law and relevant regulations, for example, the Law of the People's Republic of China on Work Safety. The Provisions of the State Council on Investigating and Affixing Administrative Liability for Very Serious Accidents (The State Council Decree No.302) and relevant laws and regulations should be conscientiously carried out and put into effect. The supervision and management system of work safety should be improved so as to form the operating framework for work safety that work safety is placed under the unified leadership of the government, work safety supervision and management by competent government departments according to law, full responsibility of enterprises and the supervision and support of the whole society.

2.Reform of work safety supervision and work safety management system

At the 1st session of the 10th National People's Congress, the State Council's Institutional Reform Plan was approved. The State Administration of Work Safety (The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety) was reorganized as one of the institutions directly under the State Council, performing its functions of comprehensive supervision and management of work safety all over China and work safety supervision in coal mines. Such decision not only reflects the great importance the State has attached to work safety but also the objective requirements of the development of market economy in this country.

In recent years, the State has taken a series of major reform measures on the supervision and management system of work safety. In early 2000, the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety was set up. In early 2001, the State Administration of Work Safety was set up. Under the administration of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), both organizations have been performing their duties of comprehensive supervision and management of work safety all over China and work safety supervision in coal mines. After the current institutional reform of the State Council, the State Administration of Work Safety and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety became one of the institutions directly under the State Council from its original status of under the administration of the former SETC, thus providing an institutional guaranty for further strengthening the comprehensive supervision and management of work safety and improving the work safety supervision and management system.

3. General concepts on work safety for the next step

The general concepts are aiming at "one target", structuring a "working framework", doing well "three big events", establishing "six supporting systems" and pushing forward "five innovations".

12. "One target": According to the general requirements of building an all-round well-off society, we'll dedicate ourselves to the establishment of the long effective mechanism of work safety. Relying on both the local governments and the departments concerned, we'll work harder for the next few years in a bid to form an efficiently work safety supervision and management operating system, the perfect legal system of work safety and the self-improving and auto-disciplinary mechanism of work safety in enterprises. Besides, we'll try to create the atmosphere of public awareness of "Valuing life and caring for safety" in the whole society. The target is to effectively control the major and very serious accidents, reduce the total number of accidents in industries, mines and enterprises year by year and realize a stable improvement of the work safety situation in China.

13. "Working Framework": The working framework on work safety is composed of the unified leadership of the government, the supervision and management of the departments concerned according to law, the full responsibility taken by the enterprises and the supervision and support of the whole society. In detail, we'll focus on the following four aspects.

i) Governments at all levels should strengthen their leadership on work safety and set up the work safety supervision and management system that is independent and authoritative according to law. Work safety should be brought into the plan of economic development and work achievement examination system so as to shape the powerful leadership on work safety and relevant coordination and management mechanism;

ii) Work safety supervision and management departments at all levels should carefully perform their duties of comprehensive supervision and management and strengthen the law enforcement and supervision according to law. The government departments concerned should practice their supervision and management on work safety within the range of their designated duties;

iii) As the main body of work safety, enterprises should establish their work safety responsibility system and improve their work safety responsibility system and ensure the input on work safety. They should also enhance the basic work on work safety to form the operating mechanism of work safety that is self-disciplinary and continuously improving in nature;

iv) The whole society should be mobilized to build up the atmosphere of public awareness of work safety and practise a good supervision by public opinions and by the masses. The intermediary social organizations should play their role of providing technical assistance and services for work safety.

14. "Three big events": The first big event is, according to the requirement of further reform of the administrative system, to push forward the construction of the work safety supervision and management system and its working mechanism so as to shape efficient systems of work safety supervision and management and its effective and flexible operating mechanism. The second big event is to strengthen the construction of work safety legal system and bring into shape the work safety legal system with the Work Safety Law as the main body and the relevant laws, regulations, rules and standards as the supporting instruments. In the mean time, legal administrative work should be further intensified. The third big event is to enhance the contingent building. We shall try to build up a work safety supervision, management and inspection contingent with special capacities in moral, professional knowledge and skills;

15. "Six supporting systems": In the course of improving the nation's work safety supervision and management system, efforts shall be intensified on a quickened construction of six big supporting systems such as the work safety law system, the work safety information system, the work safety technology and technical hardware system, the work safety advocacy and education system, the work safety training system and mine emergency rescue system, thus forming a powerful support and effective guaranty to the comprehensive work safety supervision and management in China;

16. "Five innovations": The first one is the innovation for the ideological concept of work safety. This is to enhance study on basic theory of work safety in a bid to structure the work safety theoretical system. The second one is the innovation for the work safety supervision and management system and its working mechanism. The third one is the innovation for the means of work safety supervision and management. The fourth one is the innovation for work safety science and technology. The fifth one is the innovation of safety culture. We should promote the popularization and industrialization of safety culture on the basis of improving the overall quality of safety culture of the whole nation.

In accordance with the above-mentioned general concepts, we'll focus our attention on the seven key tasks as follow:

Task 1 is to fully implement the Work Safety Law and promote relevant administrative management according to law.

Task 2 is to lay stress on work safety in key industries, key regions and key enterprises and continue our efforts on work safety oriented special rectifications. In key industries, rectification shall be focused on work safety in coal mines, dangerous chemical products and road traffic safety. Key regions include the provinces with annual accident death toll amounting to more than 6,000 persons and annual total number of very serious accidents amounting to more than 9 in 2002, and key road and water traffic lines and regions. Key enterprises mainly include the state-owned coal mines threatened by mine gas disasters and the non-public-owned small-sized enterprises.

Task 3 is to implement to the full the work safety responsibility system in enterprises and promote the basic work of safety in enterprise. According the Work Safety Law, the work safety responsibility system should be set up, improved and strictly practiced in enterprises. The management departments of work safety within enterprises should be further improved. The input for work safety should be increased so that the obsolete technology and equipment imperiling work safety could be eliminated. Comprehensive assessment of work safety should be carried out for all enterprises that are to be provided with guidance for work safety improvement according to their actual work safety conditions.

Task 4 is to promote the advocacy and education of work safety and improve the safety awareness of the whole nation. The "Month of Work Safety" in June and the activity of "Work Safety Circuit" should be organized and carried out perfectly. Information of work safety in China should be regularly released by the central media. Information of accidents that occur in every province and region should also be publicized in order to put them under the examination of the public opinion and the supervision of the society as a whole.

Task 5 is to strengthen the work safety law enforcement contingent building.

Task 6 is to further improve the work safety supervision and management system. New files are to be set up for major hidden dangers according to their natures. This information is to be made known to the society in certain forms. At the same time, units threatened by the hidden dangers are to receive notices for rectification so that the units in question may take measures to address the problems in a timely manner.

Task 7 is to further open to the outside world and promote the international exchange and cooperation on work safety.
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