Money

Changes called for after deaths at building sites

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-25 07:57

Construction site accidents in which people have died or been seriously injured have become more common since 2007, shooting up by 25 percent, said a senior Chaoyang district court official.

Xin Zuguo, the judge from the No 1 criminal tribunal of Chaoyang court, told METRO it had seen 30 cases in which people were found guilty of having "serious responsibility" for accidents during the three-year period.

Among them, 19 happened in 2007, three in 2008, four last year and there have been five so far this year.

The 30 cases caused 21 deaths and 12 injuries. Among the 33 victims, 28 were migrant workers.

Twenty-five of the 30 serious accidents happened on construction sites or during decoration/renovation projects, Xin said.

"The major reasons for the accidents were an absence of pre-arranged safety planning, a failure to eliminate potential safety hazards and unqualified construction companies illegally undertaking work they were not qualified to carry out," he said.

Xin said unqualified staff were told to operate heavy construction equipment and noted there was a lack of awareness about safety precautions among workers and inadequate control from supervisory governmental departments.

Among cases that went before the courts during the three-year period was the July 2009 death of two migrant workers from Sichuan province who fell from the top of a warehouse being built by a Beijing construction company for the Jin'gang Weiye International Logistics Company.

The safety production department found during its investigation that the construction company was unqualified and did not follow safety procedures. Leng Bing, the construction company's manager at the time of the deaths, was jailed for two years.

"There had been no safety planning and no safety management, nor any provision of safety equipment during the whole construction process," Xin said.

The judge said administrative departments responsible for site safety should intensify their supervision of construction companies and improve companies' handling of emergency safety incidents. The administrative departments should also step up their punishment of illegal operations.

The construction industry should also organize education and training activities for migrant workers in a bid to enhance their awareness of safety issues, Xin said.

"In addition, the construction companies should make plans for high-risk projects, set up special funds, and send special personnel to regulate and manage the safety work."