All collieries must issue safety handbooks to miners free of charge by the end of the year to strengthen safety at mines throughout China.

The move is a requirement by the General Administration of Work Safety, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The handbooks should include the rights and obligations of miners, an introduction to possible accidents, emergency treatment measures and telephone numbers to report disasters.

Coal mines can draft the handbook themselves, the administration said.

The handbooks must have pictures and the language should be simple and easily understood, according to the administration.

General information and specific conditions of the related coal mine will be in every handbook.

During the National Day holidays, three major accidents occurred in the southwestern Sichuan Province, northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and central China's Henan Province respectively. 

Township coal mines can ask other organizations to do the handbook work. Work safety departments above county level can also draft the books. They must be updated to meet the requirements of the latest situation, the administration said.

(China Daily October 6, 2005)