Particular attention will be given to small mines and factories and the dangerous chemical industry.

Despite the nation's strengthened supervision efforts, many small private or township mines and enterprises have failed to give enough attention to the problem of workplace safety, with the result that many more human lives have been lost, according to the safety watchdog.

Workplace-safety supervision departments will not hold back in punishing violations of traffic rules to improve the safety of road, water and air transport, said Li Rongrong, minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission.

Violations of traffic rules and the illegal operation of agricultural vehicles and ships without licenses are also major causes of accidents.

Workplace safety still looms large as a serious challenge given that more than 75,000 people lost their lives in over 631,000 workplace accidents, administration director Wang Xianzheng told a teleconference jointly organized by the administration and the State Economic and Trade Commission.

In a breakdown according to category, road collisions and air crashes caused the most casualties.

The workplace-safety situation is gradually changing for the better especially since the State Council sent out special supervision panels starting in July this year, said Li.

During the first eight months of this year, the number of accidents involving the deaths of more than 30 people declined year on year, said Li. The overall death toll from such accidents was also lower.

The number of accidents as a whole in the first eight months rose by 9 per cent year on year, compared to a growth rate of 20.7 per cent the year before. The death toll rose 4.5 per cent, compared to a year-on-year growth rate of 10.4 per cent in the first eight months of last year.

Thirteen provinces, regions and municipalities, such as Hainan Province, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Tianjin have had no accidents involving more than 30 fatalities, Li said. Shanghai, Beijing, and Jiangsu and Fujian provinces all saw a decline in major accidents.

Officials taking part in the conference agreed that arduous efforts must be carried out to combat the dangers that could give rise to accidents.

To root out the causes of workplace accidents, local leaders at all levels should strictly implement workplace-safety regulations, said Li.

Governments at all levels should enhance leadership relating to workplace safety and support safety checks by workplace-safety watchdogs, Li said.

The minister urged managers and leaders of enterprises to strictly abide by the workplace-safety law adopted by the National People's Congress, which will take effect on November 1.

(China Daily September 26, 2002)