WORKPLACE SAFETY...

[rogerluli]

If you've been around China for any length of time you've probably noticed that there are an inordinate number of people missing stuff...Important stuff like fingers, hands, arms and legs... Of course these workplace accident victims were the lucky ones. 100,000 Chinese die every year in workplace accidents...by comparison the US had 5700 such deaths in 2005. China is a VERY dangerous place to work in many industries, mining being the worst...

 

Here are two pics I took of a young man working on a temple in Haikou, Hainan. Where is all the safety equipment he should be using??? Doesn't everyone have the right to be as protected as reasonably possible at their job???

 

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/4731/china2006299ee5.jpg

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/5620/china2006298go3.jpg

 

Here is an article about a supposed crackdown on managers that allow their workers to be maimed and killed... Unfortunately it could very well be just window-dressing...

 

 

 

China crackdown on work accidents

Dozens of Chinese officials are to be prosecuted or punished over fatal accidents in the workplace - where 100,000 Chinese die each year.

Works Minister Wang Wei announced that prosecutors would consider cases against 78 managers and officials, and 105 had already been disciplined.

 

The move comes after inquiries into five incidents where 189 people died.

 

Meanwhile, officials say they are willing to investigate reports that 10 workers have died at an Olympic site.

 

Senior safety official Li Yizhong said those responsible would be punished severely if the claims - made by UK newspaper the Sunday Times - turned out to be true.

 

The newspaper cited unnamed witnesses to the deaths and also claimed that families had been paid to keep quiet.

 

Earlier, the organisers of the 2008 Olympics had denied the story.

 

'Loopholes'

 

China's work safety record is poor - Mr Li announced that more than 100,000 people die every year in workplace incidents.

 

"The death toll is still too big and the occurrence of major accidents has not been effectively curbed," Mr Li said.

 

"There is still uncertainty in work safety situations in some regions and industries and we also have many weaknesses and loopholes in our work."

 

But with the world's focus falling on China during the Olympics, officials are keen to avoid any controversy.

Edited January 22, 2008 by rogerluli (see edit history)

[rogerluli]

And another look...

 

 

http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0108/489975.html

[griz326]

>>>Doesn't everyone have the right to be as protected as reasonably possible at their job???

 

No. It is not a right in the USA or in China.

 

The US does impose regulations that improve safety dramatically, but a safe workplace is not a right. An individual is ultimately responsible for their own safety in the workplace.

 

I did some really stupidly dangerous jobs while working onboard a ship. I only had my Z-card a few days and the 1st engineer told me I didn't need safety equipment. I survived long enough to wise up.

 

The reason I mention the 1st engineer is as an example of supervisory people being lazy, stupid or downright malicious.

 

Some jobs will never be safe: mining is a good example.

 

I do agree that every employer has a responsibility to make their work place as safe as it reasonably can be.

 

Hopefully, China will make good progress in improving workplace safety.

[rogerluli]

>>>Doesn't everyone have the right to be as protected as reasonably possible at their job???

 

No. It is not a right in the USA or in China.

 

The US does impose regulations that improve safety dramatically, but a safe workplace is not a right. An individual is ultimately responsible for their own safety in the workplace.

 

 

I certainly agree that it is finally up to the individual to make their workplace safe AFTER they are given the proper training and tools to do so...100,000 deaths is just unacceptable...

[Shenzhen K-1]

This a problem everywhere you go in China not just this single incident!!

 

Our driver took us to see the Olympic village and drove into the construction area, the welding on the stadium was just crazy!! Guys welding above each other, no true safety masks, lines everywhere!! The little plastic buildings they live in are bad enough!!

 

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/7205/1000767xc3.jpg

[Guest knloregon]

I'm not going to defend China's workplace safety practices....

 

Have to guess, that if the 100 k figure represents anything accurately, it would be fairly violent deaths.. (not the slower kind, brought on in toxic environments)

 

But recently, there was an article in The Economist that tracted China's real economic engine (I only read an excerpt in BW) But according to this article, China's economy doesn't run on exports, its big generator is infrastructure improvements----makes sense to me, since there is heavy construction almost everywhere you turn--- a huge exposure to danger---particularly considering how much is hand work---not mechanized as would be in the US.

 

When I worked as a land surveyor for the Army Corp of Engineers in the late 1970's I was on the new powerhouse project at Bonneville dam. Land surveying turns out to be one of the more dangerous occupations because often the surveyor is going onto an unfamiliar work site, and secondly, must cross outside of safe areas to take readings. Both applied in spades at Bonneville, where it was easy to be more than 10 stories up against the dam face, taking readings and looking down on re-bar. But any massive construction project, no matter how safe, simply has to budget in a certain number of fatalities---at Bonneville, it was fire or six, as I recall. ---can't imagine building the Beijing Olympic complex without some fatalities---even by American standards.

[Smitty]

Another factor might be the availability of work. When the Golden Gate Bridge was being built during The Depression, men lined up, just incase they needed people. When ever anyone spoke up about safety or working conditions, they were shown to the other side of the fence.

 

So, the employers may know that they have more workers than jobs, and can act as they desire.

 

Of course, I'm not up on the current economic conditions in China, so this may not apply, but it might be something to consider.

[Corbin]

>>>Doesn't everyone have the right to be as protected as reasonably possible at their job???

 

No. It is not a right in the USA or in China.

 

The US does impose regulations that improve safety dramatically, but a safe workplace is not a right. An individual is ultimately responsible for their own safety in the workplace.

 

I did some really stupidly dangerous jobs while working onboard a ship. I only had my Z-card a few days and the 1st engineer told me I didn't need safety equipment. I survived long enough to wise up.

 

The reason I mention the 1st engineer is as an example of supervisory people being lazy, stupid or downright malicious.

 

Some jobs will never be safe: mining is a good example.

 

I do agree that every employer has a responsibility to make their work place as safe as it reasonably can be.

 

Hopefully, China will make good progress in improving workplace safety.

This reminds me about a story that one of my college prof's. told us about a job she held in her early 20's. She was in the merchant marines and served as an electrician aboard ship. It went like this, during a ragging storm she had to repair a main electrical bus line that powered the bilge pumps. It ran through a bulkhead that was expose to the weather and she had sea water spraying in.

 

Now the normal procedure was to kill the circuit, make the repair then bring it back online. With the storm ragging they couldn't take the chance of shutting down those pumps. All she had to do was apply a covering over the bus line where it went through the bulkhead. Now this is what I would call taking a chance. She didn't die from it, but very well could have in a couple different ways. The first would have been fairly fast from the high voltage electrical shock and the second way could have been from drowning when the ship went down.

 

Some jobs are just plain dangerous, but if it can be made safer it should be. Then it is up to the worker to use the safety equipment.

[rogerluli]

 

 

employers may know that they have more workers than jobs, and can act as they desire.

 

 

This is exactly right...I recently read that there are 200 million migrant workers in China's cities and another 200 million ready, willing and able in the countryside to replace them...

[rogerluli]

http://extras.sltrib.com/china/

 

A seven part series from the Salt Lake Tribune...

 

"American Imports, Chinese Deaths"

 

and to think people here wonder why the Chinese are poisoning us...

Edited January 24, 2008 by rogerluli (see edit history)

[Shenzhen K-1]

http://extras.sltrib.com/china/

 

A seven part series from the Salt Lake Tribune...

 

"American Imports, Chinese Deaths"

 

and to think people here wonder why the Chinese are poisoning us...

 

Very sad story, but if you look on the web enough you can find stories of problems on both sides!!

[rogerluli]

http://extras.sltrib.com/china/

 

A seven part series from the Salt Lake Tribune...

 

"American Imports, Chinese Deaths"

 

and to think people here wonder why the Chinese are poisoning us...

 

Very sad story, but if you look on the web enough you can find stories of problems on both sides!! B)

 

The extent to which the people of China are being sickened and killed to achieve their economic success is so many times greater than any possible ill effects their products are having in the West...There is simply no possible comparison...

[Guest Tony Terrific]

I have been in sales all of my life. I have always sold premium priced goods. When I ventured into sales I made a promise to myself that I would only have to explain price once and not apologize over and over why my products and services where second rate. I do not beleive in riding in the back of the bus for a quick profit at second hand quality.

The Chinese people are being exploited just like the Immigrants where here in the USA a 100 years ago to achieve a quick profit for the large Trusts of Rockefeller and Morgan. The funny thing about this is that history is repeating itself because mankind learns nothing from history and he is damned to repeat it.

[Jay & Ping]

I've been in manufacturing for 30 years. I've seen some really stupid things in the US, but nothing like my trips to China. I evaluate manufacturers for our supply chain. Quality is the biggest issue lately. Price was yesterday. I am happy to say that ethics and worker safety are beginning to get some exposure. I have videos of workers sitting inside 300 ton presses while they are operating. This press is stamping out steel pots. There are three guys inside (on seats) lifting the parts from one station to the next. No one injured in the video, but I could see that it wouldn't be that way forever

 

Yes, there are a lot of Chinese, and perhaps life is cheap there, but I know there is a person that set that situation up. They have brothers or sisters, and parents, and perhaps kids... What can they be thinking.

 

Fortunately that video was sent to me. If I saw it at a work site the manufacturer would be rejected. I used to have to lie and mark them under poor quality or incompatible work flow. Now I have an entire section related to worker safety, cleanliness / conditions, hours worked, etc. I'm seeing review comments in those sections now. It's a small start in a big problem.

[Corbin]

I've been in manufacturing for 30 years. I've seen some really stupid things in the US, but nothing like my trips to China. I evaluate manufacturers for our supply chain. Quality is the biggest issue lately. Price was yesterday. I am happy to say that ethics and worker safety are beginning to get some exposure. I have videos of workers sitting inside 300 ton presses while they are operating. This press is stamping out steel pots. There are three guys inside (on seats) lifting the parts from one station to the next. No one injured in the video, but I could see that it wouldn't be that way forever

 

Yes, there are a lot of Chinese, and perhaps life is cheap there, but I know there is a person that set that situation up. They have brothers or sisters, and parents, and perhaps kids... What can they be thinking.

 

Fortunately that video was sent to me. If I saw it at a work site the manufacturer would be rejected. I used to have to lie and mark them under poor quality or incompatible work flow. Now I have an entire section related to worker safety, cleanliness / conditions, hours worked, etc. I'm seeing review comments in those sections now. It's a small start in a big problem.

Here is the sad part, even when worker safety is addressed, there are worker out there that will bypass the safety procedures just to make it easier to do their job. Then the people that are suppose to make sure this doesn't happen will turn a blind eye because production speed means everything.