As reported previously, the situation for workers in China’s coal sector is very grave with daily deaths. The official Chinese safety body, SAWS, recently released a report that detailed that coal mine accidents and deaths had fallen by about 15% in 2014. While such a decrease should be seen as a great step forward, the likely cause was the shutting down of numerous coal mines and not necessarily and improvement in standards. Labour activists fear that without independent unions and better enforcement of regulations, these numbers will increase if coal production expands again in the future.
As reported previously, the situation for workers in China’s coal sector is very grave with daily deaths. The official Chinese safety body, SAWS, recently released a report that detailed that coal mine accidents and deaths had fallen by about 15% in 2014. While such a decrease should be seen as a great step forward, the likely cause was the shutting down of numerous coal mines and not necessarily and improvement in standards. Labour activists fear that without independent unions and better enforcement of regulations, these numbers will increase if coal production expands again in the future.
