VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBJ #2283 0960928
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 060928Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6576
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1770

UNCLAS BEIJING 002283 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, ROSENBERG, CELICO, STRATFORD, BLISS 
LABOR FOR ILAB-LI AND OSEC-OWEN 
TREAS FOR OASIA/ISA-CUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN AND DAS KASOFF 
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EMIN EAID CH
SUBJECT:  ILO SEEKS DONOR FUNDING FOR CHINA MINE SAFETY 
PROJECT 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  The International Labor Organization (ILO) and 
China's State Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) seek 
US$1.9 million in funding for a three year project on 
improving occupational safety and health in China's coal mines. 
The project would use a tripartite approach to review mine 
safety laws, regulations and practices, provide training and 
disseminate best practices throughout the mining industry. 
Embassy will provide Washington agencies a complete project 
proposal and proposed budget electronically.  End summary. 
 
¶2. On April 3, the ILO office in Beijing and SAWS held a 
"donors meeting" at which they announced that they are seeking 
funding for a new project to improve occupational safety and 
health in China's coal mines.  The ILO circulated a detailed 
draft project proposal and took questions from potential 
donors.  (Embassy will circulate this proposal and a detailed 
proposed budget to Washington agencies electronically.) 
 
¶3. The ILO said the draft project document is the result of 
two and one half years of consultations with SAWS and Chinese 
employer and worker organizations.  The project, originally 
proposed by the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, 
Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), aims to build a 
tripartite mechanism in China for mine safety risk assessment 
and risk management. Participants in the tripartite program 
would include SAWS, the ILO, the All China Federation of Trade 
Unions (ACFTU) and its constituent organizations, and the 
Chinese Employers Confederation (CEC.)  The ILO, the ICEM and 
the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM--an ILO- 
affiliated employers organization) would provide technical 
assistance and other in-kind support.  Program activities 
would consist primarily of training for employers, government 
officials, mine inspectors and workers.  Key outputs include: 
 
--mine safety laws and regulations are reviewed, harmonized, 
widely disseminated and understood at all levels of the coal 
mining industry, 
 
--capacity for risk assessment and risk management verified 
throughout the industry, 
 
--improved safety and health conditions for coal mine workers 
(initially at pilot mines, ultimately at all mines), 
 
--establishment of a mine safety inspection/supervision system 
that will ensure the competence, authority and independence of 
those concerned to enforce mine safety regulations and promote 
workplace safety and health within a risk assessment framework, 
 
--workplace safety supervisors are recruited and trained and 
have the means and authority to carry out their duties on 
behalf of mineworkers. 
 
¶4.  A representative from the German Embassy noted that 
corruption seems to be the root cause of mine accidents and 
ineffective mine safety supervision in China, and asked how 
the project would address this problem. The ILO responded that 
although SAWS has identified corruption as a contributing 
factor to mine accidents, the government has other means of 
addressing this problem.  Meanwhile, the ILO representative 
said, empirical evidence shows that programs focused entirely 
on training, like the one being proposed, can significantly 
reduce the number of mine accidents and fatalities. 
 
¶5.  Laboff noted that two thirds of mine fatalities in China 
occur in small, privately operated mines where the ACFTU is 
rarely present, and asked how the project would reach these 
workers.  ILO representatives said the project was designed to 
work with larger mines, in order to reach the largest share of 
the industry in the shortest possible time, and noted that 
there are also a significant number of accidents in these 
large mines.  Small mines would benefit from lessons learned 
through this project as they are propagated throughout the 
mining sector by the tripartite partners.  ACFTU 
representatives said they have a strong presence in large 
mines, but acknowledged that they had difficulty organizing 
workers in small mines.  However, ACFTU representatives said 
that the ACFTU can still provide training to non-members 
through regional union organizations, and that hopefully this 
would helpwith organizing as well. 
RANDT