New rules to tackle construction deaths By Wu Yixue (China Daily) Updated: 2005-04-29 06:38
Lack of safety awareness among migrant construction workers and inferior
equipment are the two biggest safety threats to China's booming construction
sector, officials said yesterday at a seminar in Beijing.
Last year there were 1,144 construction-related accidents nationwide,
resulting in a total of 1,324 deaths, down 11.46 per cent and 13.12 per cent
respectively from 2003.
Of the construction site accidents in 2004, 42 resulted in the deaths of
three or more workers and were classed as major accidents, a fall of 12.5 per
cent from the previous year.The 42 major accidents claimed 175 lives, an 18.6
per cent decrease.
However, the number of construction related accidents is still considered to
be too high.
From January to March this year, there were 150 accidents on construction
sites across China, resulting in 184 deaths.
"Lack of safety awareness among construction workers, especially migrants,is
a major factor behind the high number of accidents," said Lin Yisheng, deputy
director of the Department of International Co-operation under the State
Administration of Work Safety.
He made the remarks at a seminar jointly organized by the administration, the
Ministry of Construction and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to mark
World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which falls on April 28 every year.
China has nearly 40 million construction workers, more than 80 per cent of
which are migrants, most of whom have had no safety training.
"Inferior safety equipment is another major factor in
construction-accidents," said Sha Xiaolin, a board director of the
Shanghai-based Linzheng Safety Equipment Co.
To reduce costs and pursue maximum profits, many construction employers arm
their workers with cheap poor-quality safety equipment, he said.
Currently the construction sector is the third biggest industrial killer in
China, behind the transport and mining industries.
But with construction booming, authorities now face a tough task to enforce
regulations and reduce accidents in the sector.
The government has taken some concrete measures, such as promulgation of a
law on work safety, a law on prevention and control of occupational disease, and
the regulation of work safety management. It is promoting innovation in the
safety supervision system and has set up a transparent system to hold those
responsible for accidents to account.
(China Daily 04/29/2005 page2)
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