• Chinese coal production increased from 929 million tonnes in 2001 to 1,431 million tonnes in 2003 (BP 2004 Statistical Review of World Energy – converted from Mtoe to metric Mtce). Actual physical tonnage was 1.7 Bn tonnes in 2003 which, by August 2004, was 15% higher than for the same period in 2003.
• With such pressure on production, pressure flows through onto working conditions, especially as the industry is so various in its nature. In villages, some small mines are virtually equivalent to the ‘Bell pits’ existing in 18th century Britain, while large new mines elsewhere are highly mechanised. Small mine output increased by 29% in 2003 (36% of total); ‘county’ mines make up 17% of output and large state mines produce 48% of output.

• Figures provided to the ILO reveal 6,434 fatalities in 2003, 561 fewer deaths than in 2002. The first six months of 2004 show 346 fewer deaths than in 2003. In 2003 the fatal accident rate in large mines was reported as 1.1/Mt; in county mines, 3/Mt; in small mines 7.6/Mt. The US Mines Rescue Association has tabulated the main location by mine site for fatal accidents in 2002 (attachment one).
• Given the nature of the industry the safety and health problems common to coal industries elsewhere often exist in more dramatic form: dust/heat/noise – silicosis, pneumoconiosis, hearing loss and vibration; gas detection, fire and explosion prevention are major issues; bureaucratic problems in emergency response; inspection, especially in smaller mines, is inadequate; training is limited to larger mines; mines with a single entry/exit (not in compliance with ILO C176 Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995).

• Over 100,000 miners have been killed at work in the UK since national records were first kept in 1850. Many thousands died before that date and hundreds of thousands have been seriously injured at work or were hit by serious occupational illness.
• During the second part of the 20th century the UK came to have one of the lowest accident rates in the world, but this took more than a century of sustained effort to achieve. In 1910, when the UK workforce was above 1 million men, 1,818 miners were killed in mine accidents. In the peak production year of 1913 (287 Mt) 1,785 were killed, giving a fatal accident rate per Mt slightly higher than the current Chinese rate (6.2/Mt vs. 5/Mt).

• By 1911 the UK had a well-structured system of statutory safety inspection, a statutory role for pit safety supervisors (deputies) and a statutory role for worker inspectors (elected by the workforce and providing a statutory inspection report), a role that was created originally in 1872. (More detail is provided in Mr McNestry’s evidence.)
• Moreover, the industry had a trade union structure that re-enforced and defended these statutory functions.
• Following nationalisation, much more progress was made in 1946 with the introduction of a system of safety consultation operating at all levels and later, with the 1954 Mines and Quarries Act, the ‘safety bible’. As modern monitoring and detection technologies became available it became possible to improve safety still further.
• By the late 1980’s the UK deep mine industry had become one of the world’s most technologically advanced. The rapid closure of the industry in the 1990’s had little to do with either its safety or cost structure but was a consequence of the way electricity supply industry was privatised.

• The ILO is working directly with China on a number of issues, including a successful project to train small-scale miners in Hunan province. It is lobbying the Chinese Government to ratify C176, the ILO Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995. The US, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia are among the mining countries that have already done so. Within the EU those that have ratified are: Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. Luxembourg has decided to ratify all ILO OSH Conventions and, during its forthcoming Presidency of the EU, will seek to persuade the others, including the UK.
• A joint ILO/ICEM/ICMM delegation (international federations of energy and mining trade unions and employers) will have returned from China by 10 December, after investigating how a tripartite approach from outside as well as inside China could be used to improve mine safety.
• A similar and linked Australian tripartite initiative is also taking shape.
• The US National Safety Council has a contract to improve mine inspection and mine rescue.
• Other initiatives (including in the EU) are being developed that could provide practical support, based on experience gained in other mining countries.

22.10.04

Appendix