Administrative authorities at all levels should carry the
responsibility of ensuring workplace safety, according to a pending
legislation on workplace safety which passed to a second reading by
national legislators yesterday.
The people's governments at all levels should enhance leadership,
support and supervise production safety and help solve major
problems timely, the draft bill reads.
The proposed legislation also urges governments to improve public
education to raise people's awareness of safe production.
National lawmakers attending the ongoing 27th session of the
Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress (
NPC) agreed that the pending legislation is urgently needed as
the nation faces a serious situation in workplace-related
security.
In
the first 10 months of last year, 99,734 people were killed in
860,685 industrial and traffic accidents, according to figures from
the State
Economic and Trade Commission.
Legislator Bai Qingcai blamed the exceedingly high number of
accidents on poor safety awareness and lax safety management in a
panel discussion on the draft bill.
The bill is designed to curb the number of accidents, especially
fatal ones, improve the management and supervision of workplace
safety, guarantee the efficiency of rescues and the timely
investigation of workplace accidents as well as protecting the
interests and rights of the workers, NPC officials said.
The draft bill requires related departments of the State Council to
complete a national workplace safety standard or industrial safety
standard. These standards should be updated along with the
advancement of science and technology and economic development.
Local governments should report workplace-related accidents
honestly and timely and organize timely rescue efforts, the bill
reads. Measures on how to prevent similar accidents should be
generated after careful investigation of industrial accidents,
according to the bill.
Legislator Zeng Xianzi said more emphasis should be placed on the
training of workers.
The proposed bill also urges the State Council to draft a specific
regulation procedures for handling industrial accidents.
(China
Daily April 27, 2002)