China tackles industrial accidents

cctv.com 02-21-2006 18:11

China has launched a new Emergency Response Center for industrial accidents. Its major aims are to minimize the loss of life and income, and damage to property that result from negligent practices.

This is the newly launched National Emergency Response Center. Representatives from dozens of government departments and industries attended its launch in Beijing on Tuesday. Its main function is to instruct and coordinate emergency rescue activities in the event of industrial and work-related accidents, as well as enforcing work safety practices.

The launch of the center follows hot on the heels of a national public emergency response plan, released in early January.

Wang Dexue, Director General, Emergency Response Center, said, "The establishment of a production safety emergency response system will top our agenda. We will make efforts with a view to preventing the occurrence of accidents, and to identify hidden dangers. We will also work to minimize financial losses from accidents, through effective response and rescue operations."

The Center's chief administrator says the goal is to establish an effective national emergency response and production safety system within the next three years. This system will include more than 40 emergency response bases for mining and dangerous chemical industries on a national level, as well as six regional ones.

Officials say the frequent occurrence of workplace accidents can partly be explained by China's accelerating industrialization advance. Production safety levels in some industries, especially in the mining sector, are rather poor. Official statistics recorded more than 127,000 deaths in workplace accidents last year. And over half of these deaths occurred in the mining industry.

Editor:Chen Zhuo  Source:CCTV.com