Workrights were addressed during Olympic construction

Last Monday, in response of British media’s allegation of “at least 10 death during the construction of National Stadium,” Beijing Municipal officials reported six deaths in five years for all the Olympic constructions.

Zhenkuan Ding, deputy chief of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Work Safety, said two workers were killed at the National Stadium in accidents in 2006 and 2007.
Since 2003, Beijing has been building or renovating 31 competition stadiums and 45 training facilities in order to run Olympics in August 2008.

Work safety is a major issue in China. Construction workers and miners are on the top of the list holding the most dangerous jobs. Workers can be cheated on by their construction labor contractors, while the government has no clue. So, the first thing to do is to complete legislation so to protect the workers’ rights. Independent parties such as a work union is also essential to address issues on workers’ rights.

According to New York Time’s reporting, however, Beijing’s total figure of six deaths would rank well below the toll in 2004, when Athens was the host of the Games. At least 14 workers died in Athens Olympic construction.