The lax enforcement of safety laws, coupled with insufficient investment in equipment, are partly responsible for China and the world’s deadliest coal mines, a senior official said security.low efficiency of coal use in China, the country’s main source of energy to feed its booming economy makes it necessary to more of mine.
This creates new opportunities for greater security risks and stresses the fundamental importance of preventing further mining accidents, Huang Yi, spokesman of the State Administration of Work Safety, said in an interview with Beijing-based Economic Observer.
Two miners to the hospital from the back of a truck after the catch
in a gas explosion on Saturday in a coal mine in Enshi, Hubei province. On least 10 miners were slain and another nine injured in the accident.
“Sanctions by the (relevant) laws are very tough,” says Huang. “But the problem is that the enforcement of these laws are not strict.”
Safety rules set by the central government have not been made at every mine in the country and, in some cases, the miners of the most basic knowledge of these rules exist, let alone the laws, he said.
For example, the heaviest penalty determined by the national security law is 2 million yuan ($ 300,000). However, not a coal mine in China has ever had such a large fine for safety violations made, said Huang.
“Fines of 800,000 yuan and 1 million yuan, which are seen in some areas are considered hard enough,” he said.
Moreover, almost no local government officials were sacked for unlicensed illegal mines in their jurisdiction, an example of how the laws are loosely enforced.
Huang also admitted that Chinese coal mines are poorly equipped to protect the lives of miners.
“A few years ago there was a 70 billion yuan deficit in the resources available to safety on state-owned coal mines,” he said.
The deficit was slightly reduced in the last few years, since the central government began an annual three billion yuan for mining investment in improving safety conditions to be allocated.
“But more resources are needed,” he added, “as one third of the equipment at major state-owned mines to be replaced.” “China has become a country with the most deadly mine disasters the world as a result of lax enforcement and insufficient investment,” said Huang.
The lack of training for migrants find work in the mines also adds to the potential for mining disasters.
Of the 5.5 million miners in China, about half of migrant workers and almost all workers in small coal mines are from rural areas.
“Migrant workers are both perpetrators and victims of accidents,” says Huang.
In one recent case, 38 miners were slain and another 115 captured in the underground coal mine in Shanxi province Wangjialing on March 28. Most of the miners who were caught up in the test were migrant workers from nearby villages or other provinces.
If China wants to greatly cut down on mining accidents, the country’s fundamental issues relating to safety and to address the backlog of development of the model, said Huang.
source:chinamining
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