Minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) Li Rongrong pledged on Thursday that the Chinese Government will step up its efforts to improve work safety.
"The work safety situation is still grave in China and so we should try our best to set up an efficient safety system nationwide to curb accidents," Li said, addressing about 400 work safety experts and officials from home and abroad at an international forum which opened yesterday in Beijing.
Li said hidden work dangers remain in most regions because of the pressure to be productive and a lack of safety awareness among local officials and enterprise owners.
"Private industries are the weak point for safety in industrial production," Li said.
About 74 per cent of serious accidents in industrial and mining enterprises occurred in the private sector, statistics indicate.
Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo yesterday sent a congratulatory letter to the two-day forum, saying he hopes the conference will act as a platform for experts and officials to share their experience in work safety management.
The forum is complemented by a three-day exhibition on occupational health and safety which started on Wednesday.
At yesterday's opening ceremony of the workshop, Wang Xianzheng, administrator of the State Administration of Work Safety, stressed that China will continuously focus on monitoring coal mines, dangerous chemicals, and road and water transportation.
In addition, China will close more small workshops and retailers of explosives and fireworks. People responsible for industrial production accidents will be severely punished under the law.
Wang said he is gravely concerned about the State's work safety situation, which lags behind that of developed countries.
"The situation indicates that an uphill battle for work safety is still awaiting us," said Wang.
"Coal mines, especially those mines with small production capacity, have always been our greatest worry, even though work safety in them has improved to some degree over the previous few years," Wang said.
Lack of safety awareness, problems with management and out-of-date production equipment not only hold back development of the nation's coal industry but also threaten the lives of miners, Wang added.
Jukka Sakari Takala, work safety director of the International Labour Organization, also made a keynote speech with the theme of work safety for the world and related challenges.
(China Daily October 11, 2002)
