Management, Technical Staff and Government Officials of the Chinese Mining Industry are to Adopt the German Coal Industry's Proven Health, Safety and Environment Practices

摘要

The People's Republic of China is now the number-one coal mining country. With an output of some 3.65 bn tonnes in 2012 it is by far the world's largest coal producer. Nevertheless, the country still has to import further supplies in order to meet the huge demands of the domestic coal market.The Chinese coal industry, which employs around 5.5 million people, is one of the most important pillars of the national economy. Despite the considerable efforts and huge advances that China's mining industry has made in the area of occupational safety, healthcare and accident prevention the country's collieries remain among the most dangerous workplaces anywhere in the world.China's Central Government now recognises this as an opportunity to focus greater attention on accident prevention in the mining industry by investing more resources in safety technology and training measures. This also includes introducing improvements to the existing regulations governing the mining industry.However, this process is hampered by the fact that a basic awareness of health and safety practices, along with their communication and application, first has to be developed at the collieries before the required level of success can be achieved in this area - and this applies across all hierarchy levels. There is a similar need for awareness-raising among the State supervisory personnel who are responsible for monitoring colliery operations.The present situation shows that the Chinese mining sector is in need of occupational health and safety services. The experience and achievements of the German coal industry in recent years in the field of occupational safety, healthcare and accident prevention, which are now accepted and recognised around the world, can therefore make an important contribution here.