Thread Content
The State Council Information Office held a press conference to announce the results of investigations into 5 major accidents. Source: Website of the State Administration of Work Safety, 2008/01/22 13:51. [Font size: Large, Medium, Small] [Print this page] On January 22, the State Council Information Office held a press conference, at which the State Administration of Work Safety and the Ministry of Supervision released the results of investigations into 5 major accidents, including the particularly serious collapse of the Dixi Tuojiang Bridge in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, on August 13. **Li Yizhong, Director of the State Administration for Work Safety, and Wang Wei, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Supervision, attended the press conference and answered journalists’ questions. **Li Yizhong, Director of the State Administration for Work Safety, first introduced the basic details of the 5 cases. The extremely serious collapse of the Dixi Tuojiang Bridge in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, on August 13, 2007, resulted in 64 deaths ； On May 5, 2007, a severe gas explosion occurred at the Pudeng Coal Mine in Puxian County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, resulting in 28 deaths ； The extremely serious accident involving the overturning of a molten metal tank at Qinghe Special Steel Co., Ltd. in Tieling City, Liaoning Province, on April 18, 2007, resulted in 31 deaths ； The extremely serious coal mine fire that occurred on November 12, 2006, in Nanshan Coal Mine, Wangyu Township, Lingshi County, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, resulted in 34 deaths ； On March 17, 2005, a particularly severe explosion occurred on a road in Shangrao, Jiangxi, resulting in 31 deaths. Li Yizhong emphasized that the investigation results of these 5 accidents clearly reveal serious problems in the work related to safe production on the part of the companies involved in the accidents, and they also show that the principles and policies regarding safe production have not been properly implemented in some areas and enterprises. The main problems include: first, some accident-prone units and owners ignore the law and engage in illegal production; 3 out of the 5 accidents fell into this category ； Second, the accident-prone unit had chaotic safety management and serious hidden dangers ； Third, some intermediary agencies and supervision units are irresponsible, creating hidden dangers that lead to accidents ； Fourth, in some places, the regulatory authorities fail to carry out proper supervision, and some individuals even act in bad faith for personal gain. Li Yizhong pointed out that 2008 was designated as the \"Year for Addressing Hidden Dangers\" by the State Council’s Safety Committee. In mid-January, a television and telephone conference on work safety held by the State Council, as well as a national work safety conference, were convened to make arrangements for addressing these hidden dangers. The cause of major accidents is the greatest hazard; by addressing a hazard, it becomes possible to prevent an accident and increase safety levels. Li Yizhong has repeatedly emphasized his desire for supervision from society and the public, so that investigations into production safety accidents can be carried out promptly, fairly, and effectively, and so that lessons learned from these accidents can be used to improve safety practices in production. Wang Wei, Deputy Head of the Supervision Department, said in his speech that in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Administrative Supervision Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Work Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, and the Regulations of the State Council on the Reporting, Investigation, and Handling of Work Safety Accidents, the Supervision Department, together with relevant departments, has carried out thorough investigations into the aforementioned 5 accidents. A total of 183 persons responsible were investigated; 78 of them were referred to judicial authorities, while 105 were subjected to party and administrative disciplinary actions (including 31 who were removed from their party positions and dismissed from their administrative roles). Among those who received party and administrative disciplinary actions, there were 7 officials at the prefecture/department level, 32 officials at the county/section level, and 66 officials at lower ranks or other categories of personnel. It is reported that in order to further standardize the process of holding those responsible accountable and improve the efficiency of handling such cases, in September 2007, with the approval of the State Council, an inter-ministerial coordination meeting was established to address matters related to holding accountable those responsible for serious and major production safety accidents. The joint meeting is composed of six member units, including the Ministry of Supervision, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Justice, the **State Administration of Work Safety, as well as the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate; the Ministry of Supervision serves as the leading unit of this joint meeting. (Safety Supervision Administration **Website, Zhang Zhan) Press conference venue