China launches campaign to boost work safety
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China's top work safety supervisor on Thursday launched a three-month nationwide campaign on work safety to crack down on illegal activities in the mining, transport, chemical and explosives production sectors to prevent deadly accidents.
In a statement on the website of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), the Work Safety Commission of the State Council warned of a "grave work safety situation," saying that illegal activities in production, management and construction had led to frequent major accidents in the country.
The three-month campaign, which starts in mid-April and lasts until July 10, follows three fatal accidents that caused at least 63 deaths in Heilongjiang, Henan and Shanxi provinces in the past weeks.
The campaign targets the industries of mines, transport, construction, hazardous chemicals, fireworks, civil explosives and metallurgy, where most of China' s deadly accidents happened, according to the statement.
The campaign will check whether those accident-prone industries have abided by laws and regulations on work safety.
Provincial governments and ministries were ordered to draft their own plans before April 25 to carry out the campaign. Local governments must also establish a leading team to guide the campaign. Government departments dealing with work safety, coal mine safety supervision, public security, land resources, transport and commerce should carry out joint law enforcement for the campaign, said the statement.
The campaign offers to reward those tip-off providers who facilitate the crackdown on illegal activities related to work safety.
Also on Thursday, the State Council, China's Cabinet, approved the punishments that an investigation team had advised for 77 people responsible for a major gas explosion that left 44 people dead and four others missing in Guomin coal mine in Yichun county in central Henan Province in March of last year.
In a separate move, the Work Safety Commission of the State Council, ordered an investigation into a carbon monoxide poisoning accident that killed 10 people at a power plant in Jinzhong City in northern Shanxi Province.
