Two people are dead and two more injured after a tower crane overturned on a construction site in Nanjing. The accident was the result of standard safety procedures being compromised; those responsible are facing the stiffest possible penalties.
Yesterday, 23 August, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Housing and Urban Rural Development announced the cause of the accident which had occurred 3 days earlier, on 20 August.
昨天8月23日，江苏省住建厅公布了三天前8月20日发生的事故原因。
According to a preliminary analysis, the accident stemmed from the crane’s installation. It has transpired that workers responsible did not install the tower crane’s fixed pin shaft according to standard procedures.
初步分析，事故源于起重机安装。据了解，责任工人没有按照标准程序安装塔机固定销轴。
As a result, the crane toppled during its latter stages of erection, reports China Court.
据中国法院报道，结果，起重机在安装的后期阶段倾倒了。
The Department has stipulated that one Jiangsu Pangyuan Machinery Co., Ltd. may not continue to rent and use the equipment. The responsible enterprise and relevant personnel face serious charges, while the safety production license of the responsible enterprise has been temporarily withheld.
该部门已规定，江苏庞源机械有限公司不得继续租赁和使用该设备。责任企业及相关人员面临严重指控，责任企业安全生产许可证已被暂扣。
Tower crane accidents in China have been on the up over the past decade. In May of 2020 alone, China Labour Bulletin’s Work Accident Map noted at least eight accidents over just 10 days.
近十年来，中国塔式起重机事故呈上升趋势。仅在 2020 年 5 月，中国劳工通讯的工伤事故地图显示，短短 10 天内至少发生了 8 起事故。
Responsible would appear to be the 2008 financial crisis. Or rather, the infrastructure spending spree which China went on in its aftermath.
2008年的金融危机似乎是罪魁祸首。或者更确切地说，是中国在此后继续进行的基础设施支出热潮。
This led to an exponential growth in the number of private crane leasing companies. Many brought in rural migrant workers without proper training to fill a gap in the talent pool for crane operators.
这导致私营起重机租赁公司的数量呈指数级增长。许多公司引进了未经适当培训的农民工来填补起重机操作员人才库的空白。
The sector’s difficulties have also been made worse by the simultaneous retirement of older, more experienced crane operators. They’ve been replaced by the young and inexperienced, who only qualify for the minimum wage. In order to make ends meet, they may take on extra hours and operate a tower crane all day long.
由于年龄较大、经验更丰富的起重机操作员同时退休，该行业的困难也变得更加严重。他们已被年轻人和缺乏经验的人取代，他们只符合最低工资标准。为了维持生计，他们可能会加班加点，整天操作塔式起重机。
That’s in stark contrast to the previous years, when crane operators were highly skilled, worked for state-owned construction companies and had their hours strictly regulated.
这与前几年形成鲜明对比，当时起重机操作员技术精湛，为国有建筑公司工作，工作时间受到严格监管。
Despite the worries over the construction industry’s private sector as illustrated by Saturday’s accident, in place are clear and detailed government regulations as regards tower crane operation and safety procedures. Crane operators, for example, are required to a hold a government-issued certificate before they can be formally taken on.
尽管周六的事故表明了对建筑业私营部门的担忧，但政府对塔式起重机操作和安全程序制定了明确而详细的规定。例如，起重机操作员必须持有政府颁发的证书才能正式上岗。
