People's Daily | Ministry of Emergency Management Deepens Special Investigation and Rectification Action on Major Accident Hazards 2023

The Ministry of Emergency Management Deeply Advances

2023 Special Action for Major Accident Hazard Investigation and Rectification

Effectively Serve High-Quality Development with High-Level Safety

　　Focus on targeted investigation and rectification of major accident hazards; implement special actions to promote enterprises to seriously investigate and rectify through responsibility; strengthen institutional mechanism construction in aspects such as informatization source control and precise monitoring and early warning... Since the launch of the thematic education, the Ministry of Emergency Management has continuously promoted the special action for major accident hazard investigation and rectification, effectively safeguarding the safety of people's lives and property and social stability.

　　Since the launch of the thematic education on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Ministry of Emergency Management has adhered to using the Party's innovative theory to improve the ability to prevent and resolve major safety risks, focusing on key issues affecting people's production and living safety and closely related to their vital interests, conducting in-depth research, continuously advancing the 2023 special action for major accident hazard investigation and rectification, fully preventing and resolving major safety risks, effectively serving high-quality development with high-level safety, and ensuring the new development pattern with a new safety pattern.

　　What to investigate — Focus on key links and closely monitor problems

　　In recent years, some regions and enterprises have not thoroughly investigated and rectified safety hazards, even engaging in formalism and going through the motions, leading to increased safety risks and frequent accidents, seriously threatening the safety of people's lives and property.

　　Song Yuanming, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management, stated that from the major and particularly serious accidents in recent years, some key links have very prominent major hazards, such as illegal hot work, chaotic management of outsourcing and leasing, 'small construction causing big problems,' as well as not conducting emergency drills and employees unfamiliar with escape exits. In response to these prominent issues, this special action particularly emphasizes key investigation and rectification, while closely monitoring the 'key few'—the main responsible persons of enterprises.

　　Adhering to problem orientation and focusing on prominent key points. In April, the State Council Work Safety Committee issued the "Overall Plan for the 2023 National Special Action for Major Accident Hazard Investigation and Rectification," highlighting key industries and fields such as coal mines, non-coal mines, hazardous chemicals, transportation, construction, fire protection, gas, fishery vessels, and industrial and trade sectors, while also considering new business forms and new fields, focusing on major accident hazards that easily cause mass casualties, and carrying out targeted investigation and rectification.

　　Some enterprise main responsible persons fail to fulfill their statutory safety production duties, with superficial self-inspections and incomplete rectifications; some departments have lax, soft, and ineffective safety supervision and law enforcement, resulting in low quality of hazard investigation and rectification; some regions have not firmly established the safety development concept, with inadequate hazard investigation and rectification, leading to persistent hazards and even reoccurrence of accidents...

　　In February this year, the Emergency Management Bureau of Yuzhong District, Chongqing City, received a public report about dozens of tons of methanol fuel stored in a rolling shutter door warehouse in Yuzhong District. Investigation found that a new energy enterprise illegally stored 4 tons of hazardous chemicals at the site, posing a risk of major casualties. For such major accident hazards, the Office of the State Council Work Safety Committee has also established relevant working mechanisms, regularly scheduling and grasping progress in investigation and rectification, increasing work promotion and supervision efforts to ensure the special action achieves tangible results.

　　How to investigate — Special action promotes enterprise investigation and rectification

　　In the first phase of the special action for major accident hazard investigation and rectification, 32 provincial-level units and 35 member units of the State Council Work Safety Committee formulated and issued implementation plans based on actual conditions and conducted special mobilization and deployment; 13 industry fields formulated and issued 25 major accident hazard determination standards.

　　Next, enterprises were arranged to conduct self-inspection and self-rectification over 1 to 2 months; if unable to rectify, they could proactively report to government departments and also hire experts for assistance and guidance. Subsequently, government departments carried out precise and strict law enforcement; no penalties were imposed on those who reported in advance according to law, while enterprises and their main responsible persons who 'do not investigate, do not rectify, and do not report' faced 'double penalties' for one case.

　　"The goal is to eliminate accident hazards, not to punish. We encourage enterprises to play an active and proactive role," said the head of the Safety Coordination Department of the Ministry of Emergency Management. The special action drives enterprises to truly investigate and rectify without leaving blind spots through responsibility pressure.

　　Around the May Day holiday this year, the Party Committee of the Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched 6 joint law enforcement teams in two batches to 6 provinces, 28 districts and counties, and 96 enterprises and units for covert inspections, discovering a batch of major hazards and problems, which were immediately handed over to local regulatory departments for case filing and investigation, and local governments were urged to learn from the cases.

　　At a pipe industry technology company in Huai'an, Jiangsu, there are 4 fire safety exits; the east exit main door was locked, and the three south exits were blocked by pipes, production machines, vehicles, and other equipment and debris. Rectification was ordered! The Emergency Management Bureau of Qingjiangpu District imposed a fine administrative penalty on the company and the responsible person Gao.

　　Three rounds of supervision inspections and covert visits, 38 urging suggestion letters sent to localities and departments, over 1,500 provincial-level supervision teams dispatched nationwide... Focusing on 8 types of problems such as illegal hot work construction, outsourcing and leasing, and blocked safety exits, the Ministry of Emergency Management sent joint law enforcement teams to key areas for covert and overt inspections. Concentrated governance was carried out on issues such as open-pit coal mine slope angles exceeding design, hazardous chemical facilities operating with defects, prominent highway safety hazards, 'factories within factories,' 'parks within parks,' and key hospital areas, resolutely preventing recurrence.

　　By early August, various levels and departments had found over 74,000 major accident hazards and rectified 55,000; enterprises self-inspected over 56,000 and rectified more than 43,000; governments at all levels listed 23,100 major accident hazards for supervision and rectified 14,400; 1.178 million enterprises were assisted. Currently, the special rectification work has achieved phased results. Since the special action began, the total number of accidents and deaths decreased by 25.1% and 14% year-on-year respectively, and the frequency of major and particularly serious accidents has significantly declined.

　　Normalization — Governance model shifts to proactive prevention

　　According to the unified deployment of the State Council Work Safety Committee, the special action not only focuses on investigating and rectifying existing hazards, insisting on 'rectify now,' but also tackles some stubborn chronic problems, promoting the establishment of normalized and institutionalized working mechanisms.

　　Investigating hazards and preventing risks is not a temporary task but a conscious and responsible attitude of 'always being concerned.' Wang Xiangxi, Minister of Emergency Management, stated, 'We must continuously deepen special rectification of production safety risks, effectively improve the quality of risk hazard investigation and rectification, and significantly enhance the strong willingness and capability to find and solve problems, fundamentally eliminating accident hazards and fundamentally solving problems.'

　　In the Waltz Music City community in Changji City, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, safety hazards such as fire truck access being occupied and fire alarm system failure repeatedly existed. The city fire rescue detachment, combined with thematic education, promptly clarified relevant main responsibilities and carried out rectification, also raising funds of 1.007 million yuan and formulating measures including human defense, physical defense, and technical defense, achieving both temporary and fundamental control of fire hazards, ensuring absolute safety for residents.

　　In Foshan City, Guangdong Province, information technology empowers and enhances emergency management. The "Smart Safety Foshan" project has initially established an urban safety risk monitoring and perception network covering urban lifelines, public safety, production safety, and natural disasters. "We will take the pilot construction of the national urban safety risk comprehensive monitoring and early warning work system as an opportunity to promote innovation in urban safety risk management, resolving risks at their inception and before disasters occur," said Wei Yu, Director of the Foshan Emergency Management Bureau.

　　An official from the Office of the State Council Work Safety Committee stated that the next step will be to continue strengthening daily scheduling, inspections both overt and covert, supervision and assignment follow-ups, interviews and notifications, public exposure, and enhance assessment and inspections to ensure the effectiveness of special actions.

　　Public safety is the most fundamental aspect of people's livelihood, connecting economic and social development on one end and thousands of households on the other.

　　Firmly establishing the concept of safe development, the Ministry of Emergency Management starts from the most prominent problems, focuses on the most basic links, addresses the most obvious shortcomings, strengthens institutional mechanisms in areas such as information source control, precise monitoring and early warning, and dynamic risk assessment, promotes the weaving of a comprehensive and three-dimensional public safety network, and effectively safeguards the safety of people's lives and property as well as social stability.