Forum: Work safety vital to economic future
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-02 01:06

Non-governmental organization leaders and experts from more than 30 countries in Asia and Pacific regions gathered Wednesday in Beijing to share experiences on safety and health issues in the workplace.

The Chinese government at all levels have paid attention to the topic in the nation's overall economic and social development plans, said Wang Zhongyu, vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Meanwhile, there is still a long way for China to go in occupational safety and health when compared to advanced countries, said Wang, speaking at the opening ceremony of the 20th Annual Conference of Asia-Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organization.

Lasting and formidable efforts are still needed to fundamentally improve China's work safety and health standards, echoed Wang Xianzheng, head of China's State Administration of Work Safety.

Statistics indicate that more than 130,000 Chinese people die while another 700,000 are injured in different accidents with a direct and indirect economic loss amounting to more than 250 billion yuan (US$30 billion) annually.

Among all the deaths, 80 per cent or more than 110,000 of them are killed in traffic crashes, Minister Wang said, adding that about 15,000 people die in mines or accidents in factories.

Alan C. McMillan, president of the US National Safety Council, said road traffic injuries annually kill 1.2 million people and injure or disable as many as 50 million in the world.

In some nations in Asia, most traffic injuries and deaths are suffered by people on bicycles and motorcycles who must share the roads with motor vehicles, he said.

"Several Asian nations do not have clearly-defined laws or have a citizenry that does not have a broad understanding and acceptance of the laws that do exist," noted McMillan.

Sponsored by the China Occupational Safety and Health Association (COSHA), the four-day conference has attracted more than 400 occupational safety and health experts and non-governmental organizational representatives.

Zhang Baoming, head of COSHA and rotating chairman of the conference, said the exchanges and co-operation between China and Asia-Pacific and other countries in the world have played a key role in improving the nation's occupational safety and health level.

As safety and health are becoming an important component of the core values of human beings, it is more and more urgent to conduct wide-ranging exchanges and co-operation among conference members with the aim to realize co-ordinated development of occupational safety and health with progress in the society and various economies, said Zhang.

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