China's nightmarish working conditions: By the numbers

Monday's deadly poultry plant fire calls attention to safety problems that kill tens of thousands of people every year

A policeman stands guard outside the burned out poultry slaughterhouse

The fire that killed dozens of people inside a locked poultry slaughterhouse in China on Monday has renewed calls for improving the often appalling conditions for workers in the world's second largest economy. A small protest — quickly dispersed by authorities — broke out in front of the charred shell of the plant, and relatives of the victims demanded that plant managers answer for the disaster.

Labor experts said the tragedy reflected a long history of safety problems in Chinese factories. "Throughout China's modern economic development, there has really been very little consideration for the rights and interests of the workers," said Li Qiang, executive director of New York-based China Labor Watch. A numerical look at China's deadly industrial record:

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.