China's workplace safety watchdog on Tuesday called for more training for millions of migrant workers who are employed in the dirtiest, hardest and most dangerous jobs.

The training of "migrant workers have become the biggest factor in workplace safety. The pace of training must be accelerated," said Sun Huashan, the deputy minister of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), at a national video conference on the issue.

Sun's call came on the wake of a spate of major accidents at coal mines and a refinery that has killed dozens of workers in last two weeks.

In Northwest China's Gansu Province, three coal mine accidents between Oct. 31 - Nov. 2 killed 34 miners.

China's economic boom has driven millions of farmers to factories, construction sites and mines as they seek better incomes than farming can provide. Many of them receive little training before taking up highly dangerous jobs.

A survey by the SAWS in nine provinces shows that migrant workers account for 80 percent of the more than 30 million construction workers. They also make up 56 percent of the workers in mining, dangerous chemicals and fireworks.

The survey also show that almost all the workers at small collieries are migrant workers. Even in state-owned collieries, almost all the non-management jobs are filled by migrant workers.

Another survey by the SAWS shows 90 percent of the accidents are due to human error, and that 80 percent of them take place in work places dominated by migrant workers.

The SAWS has earlier issued guidelines training migratory workers. It says migratory workers in dangerous industries must receive no less than 72 hours of safety training before they begin work. For those in the construction industry, the minimum requirement is 32 hours.

The guidelines also require no less than 20 hours of safety training for workers each year.

Sun said the work safety watchdog will step up enforcement of the guidelines.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2006)