Safety Hazards in China

Zhang Kai

 


     In the last few months, a series of grave industrial accidents, such as coalmine explosions, have taken place and have caused concern inside and outside China.

     Two years ago, in October Review, No.202, I wrote an article "Market economy induces severe industrial hazards", in which I pointed out that while China accelerates the market economy, the scramble for profits causes enterprise owners and the management to go for production at the expense of safety. The article carried concrete examples of casualties.

     More casualties have accompanied China's market economic growth. According to statistics, in 2001, over 1 million accidents happened with 130,000 deaths, an increase of 20.5% and 10.4% respectively over the preceding year. Of this, industrial and coalmine hazards numbered 11,402, with 12,554 deaths.1

     In the months of January to May 2002, the number of accidents and deaths had increased by 9% and 5.8% compared to the same period in the preceding year.2

     The Beijing Youth Newspaper published an editorial entitled "The alliance of capital and power is the prime culprit for coalmine disasters". It quoted the words of Tian Chengping, the Party Secretary of the Shanxi Province, when he visited the site of the coalmine disaster: "production here from the very beginning has violated the rules. Not one link was compliant with the rules. So many meetings on safety have been convened, but a lot of work cannot be implemented when it comes to the grassroots level." Perhaps, one would wonder why with so many meetings and conferences on safety, with so many inspections and issuance of government circulars, illegal coalmine extraction still continues causing severe accidents to become inevitable?

     The editorial's reply to such questions was: "the frequent occurrence of coalmine accidents is not because we do not have good policies, but because the policies and the regulations cannot be implemented." The editorial goes on to say that the local bureaucrats have a direct interest in the illegal mining, and when accidents happen, they make use of the power in their hands to conceal the truths.3

     The newspaper and the People's Daily of July 19 reported on some concrete examples of the inability to implement policies. For example, many provincial and municipal authorities complained during national safety conferences that though they had issued production stoppage instructions, the instructions were ignored and illegal production continued. The Vice Premier Wu Bangguo was quoted as saying that "the major problem we encounter in our current production safety work is that we cannot be rigorous about it and policies cannot be implemented at the lower levels."4

     This indicates the anarchy of capitalist production in China, and the merging of capital with the privileged bureaucracy. The government's governing power is also partially paralyzed. Faced with such a situation, the newspaper carries another article that appeared together with the editorial, entitled "Old model cannot well govern the market economy". The article proposes a new coherent, systematized and self-regulatory scientific management system whereby the leadership and the enterprise will make a two-level pledge and a third party, the workers organization, will validate the rectifying and preventive measures, carry out risk assessment and control mechanisms, as well as safety communication networks and rescue systems.

     On June 29, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted the "Safety Production Act of the People's Republic of China", which will be implemented on November 1. With 96 clauses to the Act, according to People's Daily journalist Zhang Qiang, an accountability system for safety production accidents will be set up. This means the responsibilities of government departments, production units, management staff and employees will be clearly differentiated and designated.

     It is only after half a century since the PRC was set up that an act regulating safety production is introduced. Generally speaking, it is better to have some law than to have no law. However, it is doubtful if many of the clauses can be effectively implemented. For example, it is stipulated that the employees have the right to refuse illegal or risky work, and have the right to stop work and evacuate from the site in case of discovery of emergency situations, yet there is nothing to protect the workers from being sacked. After the implementation of market economy, the enterprises enjoy full powers to recruit or dismiss workers. At a time when unemployment is serious, workers may choose to take the risk rather than quit the job. The trade unions, almost all of which are official, have the right to make recommendations to rectify measures that violate workers' legal rights, yet they do not have binding power on the enterprises.

     The crux of the problem is that the workers, nominally master of the country, do not have power over production or the running of the enterprises. Enterprises are run by capital and political privilege combined. For workers to be able to exercise their power over production as well as social and national affairs, the Communist Party's one-party rule and the political and economic privileges of the bureaucrats must be abolished.

13 August 2002

 

1 Beijing Youth Newspaper, 4 July 2002.

2 China Youth Newspaper, 6 July 2002.

3 Beijing Youth Newspaper, 4 July 2002.

4 China Youth Newspaper, 6 July 2002.