China will step up enforcement of industrial safety law and increase international cooperation to meet its 2003 goal of reducing the number of major industrial accidents by 10 percent and reducing the number of fatalities in the coal mining and transportation industries.
Wang Xianzheng, director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), made the remarks Thursday at a national conference on production safety.
Wang said the SAWS plans to establish nearly 30 auxiliary rules and regulations and eight departmental regulations relating to the newly enacted law on production safety at the earliest possible date. It will also set up a system of national standards on workplace safety, consisting of 38 regulations on blast safety and powder and dust explosion prevention.
Wang also stressed the importance of law enforcement, adding that any breach of the law should be reported immediately to the relevant administrative departments or local governments.
In the area of international exchange and cooperation, Wang said China is keen to cooperate with the International Labor Organization (ILO), the International Social Security Association, the European Union and the Asian Development Bank in the field of production safety. China intends to study the feasibility of becoming a signatory to the ILO convention on occupational safety and health, and plans to cooperate with the United States, Germany, Japan and other nations in industrial safety training and management projects.
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2003)
