More Stringent Rules for China’s Small Mines

China’s small coal mines have been ordered to inspect mine shafts at least 15 times a month. Legal representatives of small coal mines are required to enter their mine shafts at least ten times a month.

Under new safety measures released by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), senior officials at sites producing less than 300,000 tons of coal a year have been forced to increase inspection standards after it was revealed that such sites were responsible for more than two-thirds of total fatalities from coal mining accidents.

In 2005, the death rate in China’s coal mines was 2.81 for every million tons of coal mined, 70 times worse than the rate in the United States and seven times higher than that in Russia and India.