China's top work safety administrator warned the assembled media of dangers posed by stampedes and fire in surroundings such as conference rooms, when opening a press conference on Tuesday.

Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, answers questions at the press conference, March 10, 2015, in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said work safety cannot be over exaggerated as 0.01 percent of neglect may cause danger.

The director said the administration is rushing against time to troubleshoot hidden dangers of the country's gas pipeline following an explosion and sea pollution caused by a break in East China's coastal city of Qingdao in 2013 when 62 were killed with 136 injured and 3,000 sq m of sea water polluted.

Yang said the pipeline had been closed and factories relocated because problems are too complicated to be rectified in a short time, following an investigation in January.

According to the director, about 29,000 hidden problems were discovered along the 120,000 km pipeline nationwide during a eight-month investigation. Some 60 percent of the troubles have been repaired while the remainder are hard to tackle.

Coal mine accidents were sharply reduced during the past two years with no extraordinarily major accidents (death toll above 30) since March 2013. There were 931 deaths in coal mine accidents last year compared with more than 7,000 in 2002.

There are 5.8 million coal miners in China working at about 11,000 mines, producing nearly half the world's output. Yang said his aim is zero deaths as some miners are still working in unsafe conditions.

The administration closed more than 3,000 small mines during the past two years with most in Southwest China.

"I entered a small mine and found the coal seam was only 30cm to 40cm - the annual output is only 30,000 tons - it is impossible to mechanize and automate the mine," Yang said. Mines with high content of gas are also targeted, he added.

The director urged developed areas especially to get tough on admission of enterprises ineligible to meet work safety standards, referring to an aluminum powder explosion that killed 146 in Kunshan Economic and Technology Development zone in East China's Jiangsu province in last August.

"We can't make the money at the cost of people's lives and health," he said.

Yang also pledged zero tolerance, even to those responsible for minor accidents, officials or enterprise executives.

Some 851 officials were charged with dereliction of duty related to work safety accidents last year.

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