Luo said, however, that the general work safety situation is still "grim" and that whatever progress has been made is uneven.

He said central government inspectors have discovered that some local authorities do not follow the central government's order completely and some even ignore illegal activities.

He said that local governments need to announce any punitive judgments that are handed down in serious cases, and name the companies that are shut down for illegal operations on government websites and in the media.

From Aug 1 to Oct 20, there have been 178 major accidents across the country at illegal operations that resulted in 1,005 deaths, according to SAWS.

The most recent accident occurred on Wednesday morning when a coal mine flooded in Guizhou province, killing 12.

The Dapo Mine, in the city of Anshun, was operating illegally when the accident occurred, after having been ordered to suspend operations on Aug 20, according to a statement released by the local rescue headquarters on Thursday.

According to Guizhou's vice governor, Sun Guoqiang, this was "a typical accident caused by breaking production regulations and ignoring coal mine safety procedures".

The accident occurred at 7:40 am, when 50 miners were working in the shaft. Thirty-eight of them managed to escape, and one was injured.

To make matters worse, one person was electrocuted in the mine on Sept 2, about a month after the suspension order, the statement said.

The mine managers, who were trying to evade capture after the accident, were apprehended on Thursday morning, police said.