Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BEIJING7924
2006-04-26 23:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Beijing
Cable title:  

Safety Watchdogs Make Improvements in Mine Safety

Tags:  ELAB ETRD EMIN PHUM PGOV CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO5972
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHBJ #7924/01 1162311
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 262311Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3934
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 6118
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0343
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 4355
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5936
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 7265
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 5471
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1003
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 007924 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IL
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, ROSENBERG
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER, ALTBACH, CELICO
LABOR FOR ILAB NEWTON, LI ZHAO, SCHOEPFLE
TREASURY FOR OASIA/ISA-DOHNER AND KOEPKE
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ETRD EMIN PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Safety Watchdogs Make Improvements in Mine Safety


Sensitive But Unclassified; Handle Accordingly

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 007924

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/CM, DRL/IL
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, ROSENBERG
DEPARTMENT PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER, ALTBACH, CELICO
LABOR FOR ILAB NEWTON, LI ZHAO, SCHOEPFLE
TREASURY FOR OASIA/ISA-DOHNER AND KOEPKE
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ETRD EMIN PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Safety Watchdogs Make Improvements in Mine Safety


Sensitive But Unclassified; Handle Accordingly


1. (SBU) Summary: The State Administration for Work Safety
(SAWS),Ministry of Labor and Social Security and All-China
Federation of Trade Unions have deployed over 50,000 mass
safety supervisors in China's coal mines, according to the
Deputy Director General of the Mine Safety Department of
SAWS. The mass supervisors who are chosen from miners with
actual experience digging coal or building mine shafts or
tunnels have reported numerous safety problems and helped
avoid many accidents, according to the DDG. According to
one provincial SAWS official, the program has not proven as
useful as anticipated. Whether the program will ever reach
its full potential, which is considerable, under the
auspices of the government-controlled All-China Federation
of Trade Unions is doubtful. End Summary.


2. (U) Laboff spoke with Yang Qingsheng, Deputy Director
General, Mine Safety Supervision Department, State
Administration for Coal Mine Safety (SACMS) (Note: SACMS
is a part of the State Administration for Work Safety, SAWS)
to learn the status of the program announced in 2005 to
place 100,000 mass safety supervisors (quntizhong
jianduyuan) in China's coal mines. DDG Yang noted that the
program was first set forth in a joint circular issued by
the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the State
Administration for Work Safety and the All-China Federation
of Trade Unions (ACFTU) in June of 2005. Work on the
project began immediately following the issuance of the
announcement, and by the end of February 2006, 49,820 of
the projected 100,000 safety supervisors had already been
deployed in the mines, DDG Yang said.

Only Experienced Miners Qualify as Safety Supervisors
-------------- --------------


3. (U) The selection of the mass safety supervisors has

been strictly controlled, DDG Yang asserted. Only workers
whose actual duties have been either digging coal or
digging or building the mine shafts and tunnels are allowed
to participate in the program. When the actual selection
of the safety supervisors is made by the company, a list of
their names must be submitted to the local SAWS office,
which examines the qualifications of the individuals
selected and approves the selection. Once approved, the
names remain on file with the local SAWS OFFICE.

Reports Show Inspectors Discover Problems ...
--------------


4. (U) In general, the safety supervisors are highly
motivated, and believe that receiving the certification to
do the work is an honor, DDG Yang said. They feel
responsibility for doing the work well, and are eager to
find the hidden dangers in the mine, and have been
effective in doing so. The DDG gave the example of a
safety supervisor who works with many migrant workers new
to work in the coal mines. Because the migrant workers had
no previous experience, the safety supervisor has had to
instruct them that the presence of methane in the mine
cannot be detected because it is odorless and colorless but
nonetheless extremely dangerous.


5. (U) Sometimes, because of the lack of training, a mine
worker will not listen to the safety supervisor, DDG Yang
said; under such circumstances, the safety supervisors are
empowered to take action. In one such case, a safety
supervisor observed a miner attempting to make repairs to
equipment while the electrical power was still on. When
the miner refused to heed his warning and continued to make
the repairs, the safety supervisor ordered all electrical
power at the mine turned off. He was criticized by the
miners for taking this step, but the incident resulted in
improved understanding.

BEIJING 00007924 002 OF 002




6. (U) Overall, the numbers of hidden problems discovered
by the safety supervisors in the mines have been large, DDG
Yang said. The Luan Coal Mine in Shanxi Province, for
example, received 4,968 reports from safety supervisors
between June and September 2005. The reports addressed all
aspects of the mining operation, including digging,
transportation and ventilation.

... But Remedying Problems Is Responsibility of Mine Owners
-------------- --------------


7. (U) When the safety supervisors, in the course of their
work, discover a relatively minor problem, they make a
record of the problem and pass the information on to the
staff operating in the mine. However, when they discover a
serious problem, they pass the information directly to mine
management. SAWS inspectors, in the course of their formal
inspections of the mine, review the reports made by the
mass safety supervisors. The Jianglu Coal Mine in Shanxi
province has instituted a slight variation on the way the
safety supervisors operate. The coal mine stations three
senior miners at the mouth of the mine to receive the
reports of the mass safety supervisors.

Program Depends on Presence of ACFTU in Mine
--------------


8. (U)) The system of mass safety supervisors has been set
up in those mines where the ACFTU has established a
presence. Where the ACFTU has not yet established a
presence, the mass safety supervision system cannot be set
up, DDG Yang said. The system has also not been
established in large companies, such as Shenhua, which are
controlled directly by the central government. SAWS is,
however, working to get the system set up in these mines as
well, DDG Yang said.

SAWS to Further Develop the Program
--------------


9. (U) SAWS believes that the effectiveness of the program
can be enhanced over time. DDG Yang will develop an
instructional booklet to assure that the safety supervisors
get a more thorough understanding of their work. SAWS
will also publish a pamphlet describing how the program
should be managed by the coal companies, including required
training and the additional allowance the safety inspectors
should receive. Currently, payment of a stipend to the
mass safety inspectors is optional, as provided by the
original document governing the program. However, SAWS
wants to require that the miner-inspectors receive an
additional supplement to their salaries. However, this is
difficult because of the regional differences in standards
of living and salaries around the country. Currently
salary supplements for mass safety inspectors are provided
in Shanxi Province, at the rate of 3 rmb, and in Yunnan, at
the rate of 10 rmb, for each time a safety inspector enters
the mine, said DDG Yang.


10. (SBU) Comment: Laboff spoke with a SAWS inspector from
a province that has already implemented the program who
said that the safety supervisors had already proven useful
in finding and correcting problems before accidents occur.
However, he added, the program is not as useful as SAWS had
anticipated that it would be. Whether the program will
ever reach its full potential, which is considerable, under
the auspices of the government-controlled All-China
Federation of Trade Unions is doubtful.

Sedney