Coal mine accidents in the past four months have claimed
hundreds of lives, with three major incidents each killing more
than 100 miners. The death toll in the February 14 gas explosion at
Sunjiawan alone reached 214.
The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) recently reported
that of the 2.0 billion tons of coal produced last year, only 1.2
billion tons were produced under conditions that met prescribed
national safety standards. This means that nearly 40 percent of the
nation's coal output in 2004 was mined under unsafe conditions.
Behind these figures is China's rising coal consumption,
accompanied by skyrocketing prices. Coal accounts for 67 percent of
the nation's primary energy consumption. In an effort to meet
demand, coal production was pushed up by 200 million tons a year
from 2001 to 2004.
Because no new mines were opened between 1996 and 2002, the
increase in output has relied largely on general
over-production.
It will take some 51.8 billion yuan (US$6.3 billion) to bring
safety systems and equipment in line with national standards,
according to SAWS.
About one in three of the country's key coal mines have been in
operation for 50 years. These aging and dilapidated mines must
resort to excessive digging or over-production to maintain
production. Many of them use obsolete equipment, a third of which
should have been retired.
SAWS chief Wang Xianzheng admitted that most coal mines,
including some large state-owned ones, are weak in terms of
occupational safety. They are especially unprepared for serious
accidents.
Unlike the highly mechanized opencast mining widely used in the
US and Australia, the majority of China's coal is excavated by
workers down in the pits. Only 45 percent of the industry is
mechanized, meaning that huge numbers of miners must face such
menaces as poisonous gas, coal dust, floods and fire.
For many state owned coal mines, gas extraction systems are
their Achilles' heel. SAWS indicates that 40 percent of all the
state-owned coal mines that have high gas density have not been
equipped with gas extraction systems. Their safety systems are
limited to monitoring, with no prevention or control
capabilities.
Following the recent spate of accidents, SAWS has ordered 51.8
billion yuan (US$6.3 billion) to be spent over the next three years
to improve mine safety. Mines that are low producers or deemed
unfit for upgrading will be closed down.
Funds will come from the industry itself as well as from the
government.
According to a recent circular jointly issued by SAWS, the
Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform
Commission, 2 to 10 yuan (US$0.24 to 1.2) will be withheld from the
cost of every ton of coal produced for deposit into a mine safety
fund. If properly executed, 7 to 8 billion yuan (US$845 to 966
million) will be collected every year from the state-owned mines
alone.
The Shenhua Group, China's largest coal producer, has seen its
800 million yuan (US$96.6 million) investment in safety pay off.
The fatality rate per million tons at its major mines was just
0.01, well below the average even for developed countries.
The death rate for China's mines overall is nearly 4.0 per
million tons.
(Beijing Youth Daily, translated by Wind Gu for
China.org.cn, February 24, 2005)