In this Issue:
1. Editor's Note
2. MONTHLY NEWS REVIEW
- "Taking Stock" of coal mine deaths in China
3. ARTICLE UPDATE
- List of Coal Mine Accidents in China, 2002
4. ANALYSIS
- Proposals to Improve Occupational Health and Safety in China
*******************************************************************************
Editor's Note
With the recent publication of new figures and cases of coal mine accidents provided in great details by the coal mine safety authority, CLB is simply sick of reporting on accidents that turns human lives into numbers and percentages.
In our conversations with the miners and victims' families, CLB seeks to bring the human faces back into perspective -- why do unsafe mines still flourish? What does it mean to the families who lose their husbands, sons or brothers?
However, statistics, providing actual numbers of casualties, do provide the sense of urgency the problem deserves.
In 2002, 5791 coal miners were killed in the notorious coal mining industry in China, most of them in small township mines with poor safety equipment. It is alarming to note that the number of serious accidents with ten deaths or more has also increased by 12.5%.
Looking at the horrific statistics, CLB once again urges:
Take away the legal restriction of independent workers organising. Let the miners organise! They are the ones who care most about the safety conditions in the pits and their voices must be heard!
This issue on coal mine safety is dedicated to those who have lost their lives because they are not allowed to protect their own safety, and those who still live with the grief of the death of their loved ones.
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MONTHLY NEWS REVIEW
"Taking Stock" of coal mine deaths in China
The official website of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety Supervision (SACMSS) provides a list of major coal mine accidents in 2002, titled "Taking stock of extremely serious accidents in 2002". "Taking stock" of their deaths is a repulsive term and further demonstrates the travesty of denying the miners the ability to organise themselves against the appalling working conditions that create these abhorrent statistics.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2422
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ARTICLE UPDATE
List of Coal Mine Accidents in China, 2002
CLB has compiled a table of serious coal mines in 2002 based on the official information provided by the work safety authorities in China. CLB has followed up on some of the accidents, and we have included in the table the links to these interviews on CLB's website.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2398
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
Proposals to Improve Occupational Health and Safety in China
In face of the growing coal mine carnage, the Chinese government cannot do anything. The official trade union has failed the workers. What's left? Last November, in our presentation to a Hong Kong roundtable conference on health and safety in China's workplaces, CLB put forward a proposal to set up workers' committees democratically elected by the miners.
"It is the miners themselves who are best placed to understand the importance of OSH. For them it is not simply a matter of reports and conferences. The issue is of paramount importance to their families and a matter of life and death to themselves."
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2326
1. Editor's Note
2. MONTHLY NEWS REVIEW
- "Taking Stock" of coal mine deaths in China
3. ARTICLE UPDATE
- List of Coal Mine Accidents in China, 2002
4. ANALYSIS
- Proposals to Improve Occupational Health and Safety in China
*******************************************************************************
Editor's Note
With the recent publication of new figures and cases of coal mine accidents provided in great details by the coal mine safety authority, CLB is simply sick of reporting on accidents that turns human lives into numbers and percentages.
In our conversations with the miners and victims' families, CLB seeks to bring the human faces back into perspective -- why do unsafe mines still flourish? What does it mean to the families who lose their husbands, sons or brothers?
However, statistics, providing actual numbers of casualties, do provide the sense of urgency the problem deserves.
In 2002, 5791 coal miners were killed in the notorious coal mining industry in China, most of them in small township mines with poor safety equipment. It is alarming to note that the number of serious accidents with ten deaths or more has also increased by 12.5%.
Looking at the horrific statistics, CLB once again urges:
Take away the legal restriction of independent workers organising. Let the miners organise! They are the ones who care most about the safety conditions in the pits and their voices must be heard!
This issue on coal mine safety is dedicated to those who have lost their lives because they are not allowed to protect their own safety, and those who still live with the grief of the death of their loved ones.
#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MONTHLY NEWS REVIEW
"Taking Stock" of coal mine deaths in China
The official website of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety Supervision (SACMSS) provides a list of major coal mine accidents in 2002, titled "Taking stock of extremely serious accidents in 2002". "Taking stock" of their deaths is a repulsive term and further demonstrates the travesty of denying the miners the ability to organise themselves against the appalling working conditions that create these abhorrent statistics.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2422
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARTICLE UPDATE
List of Coal Mine Accidents in China, 2002
CLB has compiled a table of serious coal mines in 2002 based on the official information provided by the work safety authorities in China. CLB has followed up on some of the accidents, and we have included in the table the links to these interviews on CLB's website.
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2398
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANALYSIS
Proposals to Improve Occupational Health and Safety in China
In face of the growing coal mine carnage, the Chinese government cannot do anything. The official trade union has failed the workers. What's left? Last November, in our presentation to a Hong Kong roundtable conference on health and safety in China's workplaces, CLB put forward a proposal to set up workers' committees democratically elected by the miners.
"It is the miners themselves who are best placed to understand the importance of OSH. For them it is not simply a matter of reports and conferences. The issue is of paramount importance to their families and a matter of life and death to themselves."
http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/2326