Industrial Disease - Latest News 20 August 2008

Chinese mine execs may face charges- 05/02/2008[top]

Executives of two Chinese coal mines are likely to be held to account for their part in accidents that drowned 181 workers last August.

A panel has concluded that the mines were ill-prepared for an accident following flooding caused by torrential rain which flooded the banks of a nearby river, reports the Guardian.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the heads of the Minggong Coal Mine and the Huayuan Mining Co in eastern Shandong province had been referred to prosecutors by safety investigators.

Xinhua said that the flooding had "exposed prominent problems in workplace safety and accident prevention among local governments, agencies and enterprises."

China is the world's biggest coal producer, producing 35 per cent of the world's coal last year. Statistics from the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) reveal that 80 per cent of deaths in the coal industry occur in China.

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