China plagued by workplace mishaps despite safety drive

[dArKeR]

The number of people killed in accidents in China's factories and mines jumped 16 percent last year despite a nationwide safety campaign, the government said yesterday.

Explosions, fires, construction accidents and other workplace mishaps killed 17,315 people last year, said a report by the State Administration of Work Safety. Of those, 6,702 were killed in coal mine accidents -- a decline of 4.2 percent from the previous year.

"Workplace safety still remains grim," said Zhao Tiechui, the agency's deputy director. "We need to develop a culture of safety at work and increase people's awareness of work safety."

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/02/25/2003100067

[LARED]

1. Pretty frightening stats

My guess is that the 16% jump is due to the fact that some are actually reporting incidents now. Labor and life is chaep in China. It will take many years to change.