Government Issues New Coal Mine Provisions as Mining Fatalities Increase

China's State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) and Ministry of Supervision jointly issued interim provisions on November 22 that aim to increase accountability for coal mine accidents. Under the new provisions, government officials and personnel in state-owned enterprises will be subject to penalties including warnings, demotions, and dismissal for violations of coal mine safety practices. The violations include failing to correct hidden dangers that result in an accident; concealing, misreporting, or providing a delayed report of an accident; and allowing mines with revoked licenses to continue operations. The provisions provide for legal prosecution where authorities suspect officials or personnel of engaging in criminal behavior. The provisions accompany other recent legal guidance also aimed at addressing coal mine and workplace safety:

• Urgent Circular Regarding the Work of Safety Management in the Supply and Usage of Electricity in Coal Mining Enterprises, issued by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, SAWS, and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS) on December 1, 2006
• Urgent Circular Regarding the Strict Examination of Coal Mine Production Capacity Review Results to Restrain Excess Production, issued by the State Development and Reform Commission, SAWS, and SACMS on November 28, 2006
• Circular Regarding Controlling Major Gas Accidents in Key State-Owned Coal Mines, issued by SAWS and SACMS on November 23, 2006
• Circular Regarding Reviewing Coal Mine Production Capacity, issued by SACMS on November 2, 2006
• Circular Regarding Supervising and Assessing the Launch of Coal Mine Rectification and Closure Work, issued by SAWS on October 28, 2006
• Decision Regarding Amending Articles 68 and 158 of the "Rules on Coal Mine Safety," issued by SAWS on October 25, 2006
• Detailed Rules on Revising Safety Production Metrics, issued by SAWS on October 20, 2006
• Guiding Opinion on the Establishment of a National Safety Production Emergency Response Platform System, issued by SAWS on October 4, 2006
• Opinion Regarding Vigorously Promoting the Area of Safety Production Responsibility Insurance and Safety Production Safeguard Systems, issued by SAWS and the State Insurance Regulatory Commission on September 27, 2006
• Guidelines for Enterprises to Develop Emergency Response Plans for Workplace Accidents, issued by SAWS on September 20, 2006

The government issued the November interim provisions as death rates from coal mine accidents increased in October and November. The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety reported that November's death toll from coal mine accidents rose 21.7 percent over October's figure, according to a Xinhua article posted December 5 on Oilnews. Eight accidents with more than 10 fatalities occurred during November, including three which resulted in more than 30 deaths and five accidents that took place in unauthorized mines, according to the article. In October, coal mine accident fatalities rose by 44.4 percent over the previous month, according to a November 23 China Daily article posted on the China Internet Information Center.

A series of court sentences in November punished officials and personnel for their involvement in mine accidents. Authorities removed officials from their Communist Party and government posts in Lingshi county and Taiyuan city, Shanxi province, in connection with November mine accidents that led to 55 deaths, according to a November 24 Reuters report. Courts in Shaanxi province and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) handed down prison sentences on November 29 to seven coal mine heads found responsible for mine accidents resulting in 249 deaths in Shaanxi and the XUAR in 2004 and 2005, according to a November 30 China Daily Report (available via Open Source Center). The sentences ranged from three years to six years.

Authorities also have carried out mine closures. The Heilongjiang government permanently closed the Yuanhua mine in Jixi city, Heilongjiang province, where an explosion on November 25 claimed at least 21 lives, according to a November 27 Beijing News article. According to the November 30 China Daily report, SAWS said that the government will close 2,652 small mines with yearly output under 30,000 tons in 2006, and that China will close 2,209 more mines in 2007. SACMS commissioner Zhao Tiechui said that the government will allow no more than 100 miners per shift to work underground in state-owned mines, according to the report.

According to the December 5 Xinhua report, there were 4,236 coal mine accident fatalities during the first 11 months of 2006, representing the lowest figure in 3 years. Nonetheless, the current year's fatalities reflect continued widespread problems of labor safety in China's large coal mining sector. As noted in the CECC 2006 Annual Report, press reports suggest that China's coal mines are among the world's deadliest. Chinese officials have ordered the closing of dangerous mines, most of which are small and privately run, in an attempt to control the number of accidents, but pervasive official corruption impedes implementation of such coal mine safety measures. Local officials often receive income from mines, and therefore are reluctant to enforce safety measures that will affect production. The November 28 urgent circular on production capacity (cited above) aims to address fraudulent reporting on production capacity, especially among small mines trying to evade closure.

For more information, see "Coal Mine Safety" in Section V(c), Protection of Internationally Recognized Labor Rights, in the CECC 2006 Annual Report.