Coalminers are to form their own safety inspection task force in
a bid to tackle the appalling catalogue of pit deaths in recent
months.
Under a new scheme, about 100,000 senior coalminers will be
appointed as safety supervisors.
They will possess the power to order an immediate evacuation of
the coalmine anytime they feel that their and their colleagues'
lives are at risk.
They will also help to train China's one million miners.
This unprecedented safety measure will be jointly implemented by
the end of the year by All-China Federation of
Trade Unions (ACFTU) and the State Administration of Work
Safety.
The first appointments are to be made later this month. The
scheme is part of the central government's drive to improve the
grim work place conditions in China's mines.
"The veteran workers will help protect younger or less
experienced miners who don't have enough education in work safety,"
Zhang Chengfu, ACFTU's department director, told a news
conference.
The first batch of 200 safety inspectors will be appointed later
this month in Shanxi, the richest province in China in terms of
coal reserves and production.
The supervisors will conduct daily safety checks, train new
miners and help lead fellow miners to safety in the event of a
mishap.
Zhang said that mining trade unions across the nation "will make
every effort" to appoint supervisors at China's 28,000
coalmines.
"It's hard to achieve the goal within the year but we will try
hard to set up a safety umbrella for them as soon as possible,"
said Zhang.
Huang Shengchu, president of the China Coal Information
Institute, said the measures will help to improve working
conditions.
"The most important thing is that farmers-turned-miners need
training and guidance because they are less educated," said
Huang.
Mining is dangerous and poorly paid work. Miners earn meager
wages and only farmers from the poorest regions choose to work
underground in the so-called "death traps". Statistics indicate
that most of these underground miners are from northern Sichuan,
southern Shaanxi,
and the mountainous regions of Jiangxi,
Fujian
and Henan
provinces.
Most of the mines in this country lack adequate safety equipment
such as gas detectors to warn of explosive methane gas.
To exacerbate the situation, mines known to be dangerous and
that were shut down previously have been reopened by unscrupulous
owners to meet demands.
China Daily has reported that more than 1,100 miners
lost their lives in the first three months of this year in scores
of underground accidents, many of which might have been avoided had
basic safety regulations been in place.
In the last few weeks, over 70 mine-related deaths were reported
across the country. The central government has begun an offensive
against poor safety standards in mines.
At the end of last year, it said state-owned coalmines, which
account for 70 percent of national output, needed 50 billion yuan
(US$6 billion) in funds to improve safety.
Meanwhile, the government has despatched inspection teams to key
state-owned mines to oversee safety conditions.
It has also ordered mine owners to spend more on safety and
increase compensation for families that lose their
breadwinners.
Grim labor report
The ACFTU also expressed serious concerns about labor protection
in small private companies.
The federation, citing a new report, said workers are well
protected in private enterprises that were formerly state-owned or
part of a larger enterprise.
"But in small private enterprises, the situation is really
grim," the report cited.
After a 10-month survey conducted in Shanghai, Tianjin,
Jiangsu
and Zhejiang
provinces where the private sector economy has been booming, the
federation found that most private enterprises are poorly
managed.
Workers often work overtime without extra pay and are not given
adequate training.
"We are calling on the government to take effective measures to
stop this trend," said the report.
(China Daily June 1, 2005)