Workplace death toll ‘too high’

March 11, 2015 in Latest News

More than 66,000 Chinese died in workplace accidents last year, a death toll that’s “too high”, a senior official in charge of the country’s work safety issues said.[Special coverage]

Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said the death toll has seen a sharp drop compared with its peak in 2002, when 240,000 people died in 1.07 million workplace accidents.

Citing his experience during the ongoing annual session of the National People’s Congress, Yang said society should pay more attention to workplace safety and suggested journalists should, too.

“When I walked across the minister’s passage, none of them called me,” Yang said at a news conference on Tuesday.

A common practice is that when senior officials from key government departments walk through the so-called minister’s passage close to the north gate of the Great Hall of the People, they are often intercepted by reporters who stand nearby for interviews.

The administration oversees the country’s workplace safety issues and deals with a range of matters, including coal mine explosions. See more

Courtesy: esns.cn