A compulsory insurance program will be introduced in South
China's Guangdong
Province covering millions of construction workers - most poor
farmers who have migrated to cities - for potential accidents on
the job.
The new system in Guangdong hopes to further protect the legal
interest of the myriad number of workers in the province next
year.
A new regulation to guide compensation doled out for accidents
is now being drafted and is expected to come into effect starting
in 2005.
Farmers-turned workers make up the majority of employees at
construction sites and will be the largest beneficiaries of the new
regulation.
"All contractors and construction companies will have to
purchase insurance for their builders beginning next year, or they
will not be allowed to contract and construct any project in the
province," said Chen Yingsong, deputy director of the Guangdong
Provincial Commission of Construction.
And the insurance compensation will be worth at least 100,000
yuan (US$12,000) for a person who is seriously injured or killed in
a construction-related accident, Chen said.
The cities of Qingyuan and Nanxiong in the northern part of the
province will become pilot areas where the new system will begin
later this year.
And the extra expenses for insurance will have to be paid by
contractors and construction companies and cannot be apportioned to
builders, Chen said.
The move to use a new system is aimed at reducing construction
accidents and protecting builders' legal interest, Chen added.
He estimated Guangdong now has more than 5 million construction
workers who have come from around the country. Of them, few have
bought insurance to cover accidents, Chen said.
The new system comes after 54 people were killed in construction
accidents in 46 incidents in the first six months of this year in
Guangdong. The figures have grown by 42 percent and 33 percent from
the corresponding months in the previous year.
Another three persons were also seriously injured in the
construction accidents in the first half of this year.
None of the victims received enough compensation from their
employers because laws and regulations did not adequately support
their lawsuits, Chen said.
Accidents in the construction industry have become a major
killer of workers.
Guangdong, which is enjoying rapid economic growth, has plenty
of construction projects, attracting a large number of builders
from around the country, Chen said.
(China Daily September 6, 2004)