I missed this:

The Communist Party presented a sweeping plan on Monday to reduce the high death tolls in China's perilous workplaces, calling for immediate action on a problem that has long embarrassed the government...

China is notorious for unsafe workplaces. At least 4,200 people were killed in coal mines alone last year, and the official death toll of 14,675 from all industrial accidents is widely considered a conservative estimate.

Still, the government, which has long reflexively tried to suppress bad news, has shown signs of being willing to attack the problem more directly. After a fatal flood at a tin mine in southern China in 2001, senior leaders encouraged the nation's tightly leashed press to expose operators of unsafe mines.

The government has been under particular pressure since the gas leak in Chongqing. In addition to killing 243 people, the leak also sickened hundreds and forced the evacuation of more than 60,000 residents.

The government reacted unusually quickly and blamed negligence for the disaster. China's state oil company, PetroChina, is offering $3.6 million in compensation to victims and family members of those who died.

Let's hope the government really makes it work.