Legislators yesterday continued discussions on draft laws on safety on the road and in the workplace.

The draft laws were submitted on Monday to the 25th Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress, China's top legislative body.

The draft law on workplace safety is designed to improve the management and supervision of workplace safety and guarantee the efficiency of rescue work and the timely investigation of workplace accidents, according to Li Rongrong, minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission, China's top administrative body responsible for workplace safety.

In the first 10 months of this year, 99,734 people were killed in 860,685 industrial accidents, according to figures from the State Economic and Trade Commission.

Commission sources blamed neglect in educating workers - especially those from rural areas - about safety rules.

The draft road safety law aims to reduce traffic accidents, reduce the number of traffic jams, enhance traffic management and ensure that police officers can enforce the law, said Jia Chunwang, minister of public security.

In the standing committee's panel discussion yesterday, legislator Li Laizhu said: "The two laws should help enhance the awareness of safety among the public when disobedience of traffic rules and workplace-safety regulations is on the rise."

Legislator Wang Songda said: "Nine out of every 10 traffic accidents involve improper driving.

"The drivers' awareness of traffic rules are more important than vehicles, roads and management - all factors contributing to road safety."

Li Laizhu said the two drafts should introduce more specific regulations on promoting safety education among drivers, business owners and workers.

(China Daily Decmeber 27, 2001)