Eliminating Understatement of China Coal Mine Deaths
By Ye Fu
Heavily relied on traditional energy sources, China is the world 's largest miner and consumer of coal. Coal power has been the dominant energy source before P. R. China was established and has been used to fuel the rapid economics development in recent decades. However, a spate of accidents happened every year with large number of injuries have put the spotlight again on Chinese coal industry. Attentions all over the world have been drawn on China coral fatalities. In recent years, measurably improvements on accident prevention have been made by the government. China has announced continuing progress in reducing coal mine loss of life, although doubts remain about death counts and …show more content…
According to an article in Qingyuanjingji, a few months ago in May 18, 2015, two people died in a coral mine accident in Shanxi, China, but no news were released. Even local people were not aware of that accident. There were several steps that small coral mine owner took to hide the real situation from exposure. After the accident happened, the company first transferred these two people’s bodies to another site over 10 miles from the scene. Company representative quickly got in touch with the bereaved families at the same time and offered over 3 times death benefits the law require and asked them to keep silence. Being offered a huge amount of money, two families took the money and had tacit approval of this cover-up. The company also bribed local reporters for this accident. The local government, in particular administration of coal mine safety, also had turned green lights to the company and did not conduct further investigation. This issue was reported by one of the local residents and went to the news afterwards. In the process of this cover-up described by the news report, local government, reporters, decreased relatives were all involved, but they all agreed to support the company’s side even knowing that the company has potential safety hazard that might cause bigger issues in the …show more content…
In China, the administration of coal mine safety, directly reports to the city administration, is responsible for local coal mine industry safety surveillance and worker safety training. Local government will get rid of all responsibility in safety control in local coal mine industry if they remain independent. However, particularly in light of the possibilities that government might corporate with coal mine operators to hide real data and the negative social influence of such cover-ups, it is necessary and essential to build a third party independent agency in charge of coal mine accident investigation. Based on my research in American coal mine industry, I personally think in order to have the most accurate and precise information, this institute should work closely with local trade unions and set up hotlines for labors to report accidents anonymously. Working closely with local labor unions can prevent accidents from being concealed because labors must get more first hand information than mine operators. Moreover, family members and local residents can call the hotline and have another method to reveal accidents to the public without privacy concern. Considering the effectiveness of a third-part agency, I believe it is a necessary step in regulating coal mine
By Ye Fu
Heavily relied on traditional energy sources, China is the world 's largest miner and consumer of coal. Coal power has been the dominant energy source before P. R. China was established and has been used to fuel the rapid economics development in recent decades. However, a spate of accidents happened every year with large number of injuries have put the spotlight again on Chinese coal industry. Attentions all over the world have been drawn on China coral fatalities. In recent years, measurably improvements on accident prevention have been made by the government. China has announced continuing progress in reducing coal mine loss of life, although doubts remain about death counts and …show more content…
According to an article in Qingyuanjingji, a few months ago in May 18, 2015, two people died in a coral mine accident in Shanxi, China, but no news were released. Even local people were not aware of that accident. There were several steps that small coral mine owner took to hide the real situation from exposure. After the accident happened, the company first transferred these two people’s bodies to another site over 10 miles from the scene. Company representative quickly got in touch with the bereaved families at the same time and offered over 3 times death benefits the law require and asked them to keep silence. Being offered a huge amount of money, two families took the money and had tacit approval of this cover-up. The company also bribed local reporters for this accident. The local government, in particular administration of coal mine safety, also had turned green lights to the company and did not conduct further investigation. This issue was reported by one of the local residents and went to the news afterwards. In the process of this cover-up described by the news report, local government, reporters, decreased relatives were all involved, but they all agreed to support the company’s side even knowing that the company has potential safety hazard that might cause bigger issues in the …show more content…
In China, the administration of coal mine safety, directly reports to the city administration, is responsible for local coal mine industry safety surveillance and worker safety training. Local government will get rid of all responsibility in safety control in local coal mine industry if they remain independent. However, particularly in light of the possibilities that government might corporate with coal mine operators to hide real data and the negative social influence of such cover-ups, it is necessary and essential to build a third party independent agency in charge of coal mine accident investigation. Based on my research in American coal mine industry, I personally think in order to have the most accurate and precise information, this institute should work closely with local trade unions and set up hotlines for labors to report accidents anonymously. Working closely with local labor unions can prevent accidents from being concealed because labors must get more first hand information than mine operators. Moreover, family members and local residents can call the hotline and have another method to reveal accidents to the public without privacy concern. Considering the effectiveness of a third-part agency, I believe it is a necessary step in regulating coal mine