[Broadcast on 17 July 2004]
In recent years, coalmine accidents, especially those serious ones which have killed dozens of miners, are no longer news. Mainland media had more coverage on the miserable lives of miners and their extremely poor working conditions in the last two years, but people are now getting used to the shameful living conditions and daunting working conditions of the miners. At first, people were shocked to learn about miners turmoil, and then became disappointed. Although there have been more and more reports about safety problems in mines, the society, however, has become more inert to these accidents. Coalmines are not only the working place of miners but also their tombs. What else can we do on the whole system apart from just digging out and exposing the cold hard facts of mine accidents? In other words, what can we do to effectively reduce such accidents? Mr Wang, a manager from Chongqing City Qijiang Insurance Company, told us about the possibility to ensure work safety by requiring mine owners to pay premium for their employees. Is such an arrangement pushing the mine owners to improve miners working condition? Today we are going to broadcast the first part of the interview with Mr Wang.
Insurance manager Mr Wang:
We are now checking the death toll and the insured list because we find that there are some problems between the lists.
Han Dongfang [Han]:
What kind of problem?
Mr Wang:
The main problem is that the names in the insured list are not matched with the names on the death toll.
Han:
How many of them are not matched?
Mr Wang:
About four.
Han:
You mean they [the four workers] were not covered by insurance?
Mr Wang:
No, it only indicates that the workers record is incomplete there [the mining company]. They cant really tell us the exact names of the miners. They cant give us the exact number [of deaths] and the exact names of the miners. The insurance package covers 130 workers and now we find that some names [the mining company provided] are not matched with our record and we would like to know why. Our insurance company has sent a working group to the mine to check, but their work has been stopped as so many miners were killed at the mine. So, we ask our working group to come back first.
Han:
How come they could not even clarify the miners names?
Mr Wang:
Well, the coalmine management is rather
you know, it is a mine in the town and they might record the workers names roughly, without double checking [with the miners identity documents]. They cant tell their names now and also cant identify who is who. That is why we still have doubts on three to four names.
Han:
Can you match the other names?
Mr Wang:
Basically yes!
Han:
Do you know where those three to four workers came from?
Mr Wang:
From Guizhou Province, and also some locals. The coalmine management has been unable to tell us who they are and we do have doubt in compensation.
Han:
How much will the identified miners get?
Mr Wang:
40,000 Yuan each.
Han:
So did their company [coalmine company] get a 40,000 Yuan insurance package for them?
Mr Wang:
Right, 40,000 Yuan. The idea of compensation is different between insurance company and coalmine company. Insurance company has its own rule and the mining company has to follow the Labour Law. For example, while insurance company might have to pay a compensation of 70,000 Yuan or 100,000 Yuan, the mining company also has to be responsible to pay part of it. As an insurance company, we could only pay the amount as we had agreed with the mining company, right? If the compensation package is 40,000 Yuan, then we can only compensate 40,000 Yuan.
Han:
Do you think the mining company also gives the miners some extra compensation besides the compensation from insurance company?
Mr Wang:
I think so. It should be like this.
Han:
It seems being insured is far better than not being insured, isnt it?
Mr Wang:
Of course! We have received some 50,000 Yuan premium but those 14 miners killed in the accident would cost my company some 500,000 Yuan. It is a large sum of money. I guess it is the biggest accident ever happened in Qijiang county.
Han:
We have studied many coalmine accidents and more than 90 percent of mines are not insured. Didnt your company worry about their safety standards when you provided insurance services to those mines? What if they had such problems?
Mr Wang:
It is the first year my company provides insurance services to coalmines and accident insurance. At first, we didnt think too much about the risk in this sector because we knew that other life insurance companies had also provided services to other mines. This year, we started to provide services to them and we have realized that the risk is quite high. Especially for coalmines in villages and towns, their safety standard and facilities cannot meet the requirements of modern and advanced mines. It is really a strong warning to us, a very strong warning.
Han:
Will you think more when you deal with coalmines in future?
Mr Wang:
Sure, we will estimate the risk of providing insurance services to coalmines, but we will definitely pay the compensations according to the terms in our contracts if there is any accident. So if the insured list aforesaid was accurate, we would have to pay them early next month.
Han:
Will you be more careful if new coalmine wants to be insured?
Mr Wang:
For this kind of insurance, we will definitely make a difference than what we are doing now.
Han:
Does it mean a higher premium?
Mr Wang:
Thats for sure. Coalmines in village and towns cant provide the death toll
we have learnt from other life insurance companies that the death index [in mining industry] was not the one we had expected. The real figure is much higher and it seems the death toll will continue to increase.
Han:
What is the death index of mines in villages and towns per million tons of coal produced? Or what is the percentage?
Mr Wang:
I dont know. Only the State Administration of Work Safety knows about that. It has its index. This years figure, as I know, has outnumbered that of last year within the same period.
Han:
When insurance companies provide services to coalmines, do they send staff to check the safety conditions in the pits?
Mr Wang:
No, we havent gone that far yet.
Han:
Will you think about this in the future?
Mr Wang:
Yes, we will have to think about it.
Han:
So it seems that you wont turn down any business, but you will check it more seriously?
Mr Wang:
Yes. There are two aspects of insurance. One is compensation and the other is accident prevention. Accident prevention is one of the ways for an insurance company to estimate the risk. Based on the risk level, we can set up different insurance plans. However, we cant just turn down the mining companies simply because accidents happen and we have to pay a lot of compensation. We cant do this. Instead, we should enhance the management in this field. It means we have to avoid risks [to our business] and carry out safety checkups. Then, on one hand, we can avoid coalmine accidents and on the other hand, we can reduce our loss.
Han:
If what you said is carried out and that the insurance company is involved in the safety examination, then the work safety standard in coalmines will be improved.
Mr Wang:
Yes, it should be like this.
Han:
Has the government encouraged insurance companies to get involved [in safety examination]?
Mr Wang:
What is the governments request concerning this kind of examination? We havent received [any instruction from the government] since this big accident
yesterday there were lots of government officials there but we met shortly, we havent had the chance to talk.
Han:
Lets make an assumption, if the government makes it compulsory that mining companies have to be insured and the insurance companies are able to set up a high standard of work safety at mines, which means both the government and the insurance companies are keeping an eye on the mines, then the management of the mines will be more aware of its work safety and pay more attention to make their mines safe.
Mr Wang:
Yes, it should be like this. In fact, the government should know that it [mining industry] is rather dangerous and they should urge them to get insured. It is what a government should do. Furthermore, it has to enhance safety examination and make sure that regulations are implemented. As we know, accidents are usually caused by violations of safety regulations. So if the government makes regulations without implementing them, it is just not complete. The safety department should make sure that these regulations are applied among the mining businesses.
Next week, CLB will broadcast the second part of the interview with Mr Wang.