Xinhua, the official Chinese media, has reported two more mining accidents over the past week. The largest of these occurred on 2 July when a gas explosion at the Jiajiapu coalmine killed 19 workers. An additional 15 miners at this illegal mine in Shanxi province were trapped underground by the blast, but were either able to escape unaided or were later rescued[1]. A second disaster was reported in Southern China's Guizhou province when a prison mine flooded in the early morning hours of 30 June. The flood trapped 25 miners - all presumably convict labourers - at the Kaiping Colliery in Weng'an County. Twenty-two miners were rescued, and three others were still missing at the time of the Xinhua story (1 July). Xinhua has made no mention of the accident since 1 July; their initial report, which stated that the mine was licensed and had passed safety evaluations, failed to mention that the Weng'an coalmine is one of at least five operated by the Guizhou prison administrations bureau [2]. It is worth noting that Guizhou province, along with much of SE China, has been subject to intense flooding over the past two weeks, begging the question as to why mine operations in this prison-manned mine had not been temporarily suspended.
In the same week that these two disasters occurred, China's administrative body issued a circular instructing, among other things, that the working schedule for individual miners be capped at eight hours per day. The new policy paper, entitled State Council's Guidelines on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Coal Industry was released on the official website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Among the guidelines laid down by the document are that mines that fail to reach safety or environmental standards are to be closed, that mine owners should buy accident insurance for all miners, and that miners should not be underground for more than eight hours daily (of which a maximum of six hours can be spent in the coal beds). In addition, the policy paper mandates that miners be given protective equipment before going underground.
Another article released by Xinhua last week reported on efforts within China's coal industry to create larger mining conglomerates with the expectation that such conglomerates would be more efficient, safer and easier to regulate. This article announced the appointment of the first 200 safety supervisors from North China's Shanxi Province into a nationwide body to be comprised of 100,000 experienced coal miners. This body, organized under an initiative from the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, will be given the task of ensuring the overall safety of coalmines, stopping illegal coal mining operations and evacuating workers from mines operating under dangerous conditions.
"The present coal mine safety situation is very serious," said Zhang Junjiu, vice-chairman of the trade union federation. During the four months from last October to February, three catastrophic accidents happened with each killing more than 100 people." Zhang said safety supervisors would be chosen from front-line coal miners with vast experience and a strong sense of responsibility. The 100,000 supervisors are expected to take up their posts in a year's time. [3]
1. Source: China coalmine blast kills 19, Reuters, 29 June 2005
2. Source: Three missing in Guizhou coal mine flooding, Xinhua 30 June 2005
3. Source: Coal mine giants to spearhead pit safety, Xinhua 1 July 2005
6 July 2005