Coal mine deaths fall to 14-yr low

By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-17 08:19

The number of people killed in illegal coal mines last year was the lowest for 14 years, but the industry remains a major source of workplace fatalities, the administration of work safety said on Friday.

Across the country, 413,700 accidents and 91,172 deaths were reported last year, the first time since 1995 that the death toll had fallen below 100,000, it said.

The numbers of accidents and fatalities were both down by more than 10 percent on 2007, which had 506,000 accidents and 101,480 deaths.

Both figures have fallen for the past six years in a row, the administration said.

Zhao Tiechui, who supervises coal industry safety at the administration, attributed the lower numbers to the concerted efforts to close down illegal mines and better law enforcement.

While coal production was up 7.5 percent last year, to about 2.72 billion tons, the number of accidents fell significantly, Zhao said.

The administration said the number of traffic accidents, firework accidents and other industrial accidents also fell significantly last year, due to improved supervision.

Announcing the start of the Year of Work Safety, Luo Lin, head of the administration, said more measures will be launched this year to ensure accident rates continue to fall.

Despite the overall decline in accident and fatality numbers, Luo said the number of serious accidents last year was up by more than 35 percent on 2007.

A total of 707 lives were lost in 38 "serious" coal mine accidents, he said.

According to government figures, almost 80 percent of China's 16,000 coal mines are operating illegally.

The work safety administration closed 1,054 illegal mines last year and plans to shut a further 1,000 this year, Luo said.

Although the administration has for many years set a target to bring the number of illegal mines below 10,000, Luo admitted it was a difficult job.

Last year, illegal mines produced 35 percent of the nation's coal, but accounted for 73 percent (21,000) of mining deaths in the industry, he said.

"Coal mines often experience the most serious accidents because so many of them are operating illegally. The industry also sees the most frequent covering-up of accidents," Zhao said.

Almost 3,500 officials were investigated and 425 were arrested last year for negligence in relation to mining accidents, Luo said.

The scandal linked to the collapse of an iron ore reservoir at a mine in Shanxi province resulted in 34 officials being dismissed, he said.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Wang Jun, the former director of the State administration of work safety, was appointed governor of Shanxi.

"Illegal production and cover-ups are still too frequent in the industry, and some local governments and corporations remain ignorant of their responsibilities with regard to work safety," Luo said.

The administration needs to build a more solid base in order to see a "significant" drop in the number of accidents next year, he said.