Embassy Visit to Mine Safety Program Site

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000429

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

DEPT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, A. ROSENBERG, MCCARTIN
LABOR FOR ILAB
TREAS FOR OASIA/ISA-CUSHMAN
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EAID EMIN PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Embassy Visit to Mine Safety Program Site

REF: 06 Beijing 23804

(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED: NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) Summary. The United States Department of
Labor's (USDOL) program on Mine Safety and Health in
China is proceeding well. Both the State
Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) and the Yangquan
Coal Group (YCG),the project's industrial partner,
report that the project has opened their eyes to what
is achievable in the area of mine safety, and has
inspired them to higher standards in their respective
regulatory and management operations. The USDOL
project has produced an excellent demonstration effect
in terms of technical measures to improve mine safety.
In planning future cooperation on mine safety, the USG
should also examine ways to address the governance
problems (ref) that lie at the root of China's mine
safety problem. End summary.


2. (SBU) On November 21-22, Laboff, Econoff and
Labor Assistant visited the Xinjing mine in Yangquan,
Shanxi Province. The Xinjing mine, owned by YCG, is
the "model mine" in which participants in the USDOL
project put new mine safety management and training
programs into practice. Emboffs visited the
underground mine safety training center, toured other
facilities at the Xinjing mine, and discussed the
USDOL program with SAWS and YCG management. SAWS and
YCG management both consider the program highly
successful.


3. (SBU) YCG reported that it has sent 18 mine
safety trainers to receive training from United States
consultants at the North China Institute of Science
and Technology (NCIST) in Beijing. Those 18 trainers
in turn have trained over 1000 miners using newly
revised materials. United States consultants have
provided mine safety training sessions for management
personnel, and Chinese mine managers have traveled to
the United States on study tours to the Mine Health
and Safety Administration and several operating coal
mines. In September 2006, YCG organized training for
88 mine rescue workers at NCIST. YCG has also
implemented new safety programs, introduced by USDOL-
funded consultants into its own operations at its own
expense, such as a system in which all YCG employees
must pass computerized mine safety knowledge
examinations keyed to their specific duties once a
month. YCG is also in the early stages of installing
a pilot electronic locator system for all mine workers
at the Xinjing mine.


5. (SBU) YCG executives said the USDOL program has
provided valuable lessons based on international and
United States mine safety experience on legal
mechanisms, mine safety awareness, and mine accident
prevention, and has helped them see the deficiencies
of Chinese practices more clearly. YCG reports that
mine safety awareness and the quality of training has
markedly improved at their mines as a result of the
project. YCG said exposure to new concepts in mine
safety has enabled them to achieve new management
breakthroughs, through, for example, a salary
incentive program to track and reward the safety
performance of individual workers. YCG said they were
inspired by their visits to the United States to close
the gap with American mines in terms of safety
equipment, gas extraction and production methods. YCG
reported that is has produced 5.8 million tons of coal
at the Xinjing mine so far in 2006 without a single
fatality, compared to two fatalities in 2005. One
mine manager told Laboff that the one concept
introduced through the USDOL project that impressed
him most was that all accidents can be avoided. This

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is not the usual operating assumption of Chinese
mines, he said.


6. (SBU) Laboff separately asked YCG executives and
SAWS officials what the USDOL program provides, in
terms of training and information, that the Chinese
Government or coal industry could not obtain on its
own. YCG executives said that although mine safety
consultant services and training are available
commercially, the main issue is knowing what to look
for. YCG is well aware that United States mining and
mine safety technology is the best in the world, they
said, but that they would not be aware of United
States management concepts without the USDOL program.
To independently achieve United States mine safety
management standards would take much longer. By way
of example, one YCG executive added that pre-
extraction of coal bed methane is required by law in
the United States, but not in China, so China has no
little domestic experience in this area. SAWS told
Laboff that the value of the USDOL program is in
educating mine managers about what can be achieved in
the area of mine safety and how they can benefit from
integrating higher safety standards into their
operations. The next step, SAWS officials said, is to
transfer the lessons learned at YCG to other mines
throughout China.


7. (SBU) Comment: The USDOL program is a catalyst,
bringing SAWS and industry together on OSH issues in a
manner that would not likely happen without USG
involvement. SAWS and YCG showed strong interest in
further cooperation, and we should encourage them to
continue to engage United States consultants directly
after the end of the USDOL program in 2007. However,
YCG is not typical of the Chinese mining sector as a
whole--YCG suffered very few mine accidents even
before the USDOL program, while the average coal mine
fatality rate for China is 100 times that of the
United States. The problem of mine safety in China is
not just a question of know-how, but one of
governance. According to SAWS, small, poorly-
regulated mines that account for one third of China's
coal production are responsible for two thirds of coal
mine fatalities. In addition, Chinese labor and legal
experts at a conference on Mine safety in November
(ref) noted that a weak legal framework, inadequate
resources, corruption and a lack of accountability are
fundamental problems that thwart China's efforts to
enforce even its existing standards. The USDOL
project has produced an excellent demonstration effect
on the technical side. In planning future cooperation
on mine safety, the USG should also examine ways to
address the governance problems that lie at the root
of China's mine safety problem.
RANDT