Deaths on the shop floor China is falling to 38,000

shanghai - The number of deaths from industrial accidents in China fell by 12.1 percent last year to 38,000. This is shown by figures from a body that supervises safety on the Chinese work floors.

The number of fines for violations of the safety rules increased by 58 percent to half a billion euros. According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the occupational safety office carried out 4.6 million inspections at Chinese companies.

The number of accidents in the Chinese coal mines, once notorious for the insecurity of miners, dropped by almost 28.7 percent to 375 fatalities. In 2003 there were still almost 5,000 deaths in the coal sector.