Shandong to reward those who report safety risks

Shandong province is encouraging the public to report production safety risks, including dangerous practices that might be illegal.

A guideline released recently by the province is part of an effort to reduce the occurrence of risky situations.

Any person or unit reporting hidden risks or practices will be eligible for a reward up to 500,000 yuan ($76,651) once their report is verified, according to the guideline.

The guideline listed details about the types of situations that should be reported, who will handle the reports and the level of reward available. "Shandong has had serious production safety issues, and several accidents have occurred since the beginning of this year," said Qin Chuanbin, Party secretary of the Provincial Emergency Department at a news conference on Tuesday.

To change the situation, the province has updated its reward incentives to accompany a campaign that's being carried out across the province emphasizing safety checks, he said.

Twenty-two sectors are being targeted for their high risks and safety problems, including mining, transportation, operations using dangerous chemicals, explosives or special equipment, and construction. The list provides the major channels for accepting safety reports.

Explosions in January at a gold mine that was under construction in Qixia killed 10 miners. One remains unaccounted for. Eleven were rescued after being trapped underground for two weeks.

The province launched its campaign in the middle of February to encourage people to thoroughly check production safety, management and equipment maintenance, among other things.