China reports fewer production accidents in H1

Some 23,534 production accidents occurred in China during the first half of 2016, resulting in 14,136 deaths, a senior official said Thursday.

The two figures represented year-on-year decline of 8.8 percent and 5.3 percent, according to Yang Huanning, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, at a news conference.x Industries including coal mining, railway transportation and road transportation reported fewer accidents and deaths during H1, with 20 out of 32 provincial-level divisions reporting no major accidents, in what Yang called "a generally stable work safety situation."

There were 15 major accidents with 198 fatalities, a decline of 25 percent and 23.9 percent compared with the same period last year.

In China, an accident killing over 10 people, injuring over 50 or resulting in more than 50 million yuan (about 7.5 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses is classed as major.

The coal mining industry, however, suffered a year-on-year increase in major accidents, with five incidents claiming 64 lives, while the first half of 2015 saw 21 casualties in one accident.

For coal mines struggling to stay afloat, maintenance of underground equipment was likely to be overlooked, Yang said, adding that coal price increases this year have meant capacity expansion in mines pending closure, resulting in more accidents. Endi