Deadly poultry plant fire should spark action on workplace safety in China
Geoffrey Crothall says the lackadaisical attitude towards workplace safety in China can no longer be tolerated, and officials, managers and the public must all heed workers’ calls for better conditions
Long before China's much vaunted "economic miracle" of the 1990s and 2000s, there was a popular saying in the country's dangerous professions, such as coal mining, that "everyone is responsible for work safety".
Today in China it can often seem that no one is responsible for work safety. In the aftermath of an inferno that killed 120 workers at the Baoyuanfeng poultry processing plant in Jilin last week, local government officials seem more concerned with quelling potential social unrest than reflecting on why so many died in the first place and trying to effect change.
Despite so many horrendous blazes in China, a lack of basic fire safety measures remains the norm
The mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who died all did so because the laws designed to protect them were not enforced by local government officials; they died because managers locked the fire escapes and ignored the obvious risks of using combustible and flammable materials on site; they died because if there was a trade union at the factory, it did nothing to improve safety standards; and they died because they had never once received any training on fire prevention or what to do in the event of fire.
Moreover, they died because despite so many horrendous blazes in China, a lack of basic fire safety measures remains the norm rather than the exception. Tragically, no one thought the situation at Baoyuanfeng was anything out of the ordinary. Indeed, in the same week as the Baoyuanfeng disaster, there were two more fires in the same northeastern region of China - at an oil refinery and a granary.
There is no doubt that for many young factory workers on the mainland, especially those in the prosperous coastal cities, pay and working conditions are certainly better than those their parents had to endure. Production line workers in Shenzhen can earn 3,500 yuan (HK$4,400) a month with overtime, which is enough for daily necessities, the occasional night out with friends and even a little left over to put away for a rainy day.
For many workers in smaller inland cities and those in the northeast, wages are a lot lower. The predominately middle-aged women with families to support who worked at Baoyuanfeng reportedly earned just 2,000 yuan each month after working long hours in appalling conditions; high temperatures, deafening noise, noxious smells and exposure to chicken blood and excrement.
And they are not alone: sanitation workers in China often toil for 365 days a year in the blistering sun, freezing cold and torrential rain, clearing other people's trash from the streets. And for this, they are lucky to earn the minimum wage, often not much more than 1,200 yuan a month. Most do not have a pension or any kind of medical insurance, and even if they do have insurance, it will not necessarily help.