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Report on the Investigation into the Severe Poisoning and Asphyxiation Incident at Anhui Haoyuan Chemical on May 11 Released by China Chemical Safety Association Published in Beijing on August 8, 2022, at 17:47 Recently, Anhui Province approved the \"Report on the Investigation into the Severe Poisoning and Asphyxiation Incident at Anhui Haoyuan Chemical Group Co., Ltd. on May 11, 2022\", endorsing the investigation team’s analysis of the causes and nature of the incident, the determination of responsibilities, as well as the relevant recommendations for handling the situation and for taking preventive measures and making corrections. At around 9:45 on May 11, 2022, an accident involving poisoning and asphyxiation occurred during maintenance work on slag lock B in the gasification workshop of Anhui Haoyuan Chemical Group Co., Ltd., resulting in 3 deaths and direct economic losses of 5.6032 million yuan. The investigation report concluded that this major accident was a work safety liability accident. The direct cause of the accident was that the personnel involved in operations at Haoyuan Chemical failed to properly comply with the safety regulations regarding work in confined spaces. When issuing the permits for such work, the sampling personnel did not take samples in accordance with the required procedures, as a result of which the excessive concentration of carbon dioxide gas at the bottom of the slag lockhopper was not detected ； Inadequate ventilation in the slag lock hopper ； Before the workers entered the slag lockhopper to carry out their tasks, the person responsible for verifying safety measures failed to check each one of them; moreover, the relevant personnel did not implement the necessary safety measures while working inside the slag lockhopper, which led to their death from asphyxiation. The indirect cause of the accident was that, during the system air replacement process, the discharge valve of the accident slag hopper remained closed from the time it was closed until the accident occurred, which resulted in incomplete gas replacement inside the slag hopper; as a result, asphyxiating gases were present in the slag hopper ； Effective safety training for employees was not carried out, resulting in a low level of safety awareness among workers. There was a lack of knowledge and skills related to emergency rescue in confined spaces, and rescuers entered these areas without proper safety protection, which led to an increase in casualties ； The relevant local departments fail to fulfill their responsibilities for safety supervision and management. The investigation report states that one person responsible for the death in the accident was exempted from criminal liability ； 1 person has been handed over to the public security authorities for handling in accordance with the law ； Appropriate administrative penalties were imposed on 6 responsible persons from the enterprise. Disciplinary inspection and supervision authorities have held 4 organizations and 7 public officials accountable. The investigation report puts forward recommendations for accident prevention measures: first, it is necessary to raise the political awareness and firmly uphold the safety bottom line. The people’s governments of Fuyang City and Yingdong District, along with relevant departments, must balance development and safety, carry out in-depth three-year campaigns for special rectification of work safety issues as well as targeted measures to address safety risks related to hazardous chemicals. They need to ensure that safety oversight responsibilities are fulfilled at all levels, strictly adhere to the principle that those in charge of a particular industry must also be responsible for ensuring its safety, and step up supervision and guidance in related industries. Second, take these cases as a lesson and strictly enforce the primary responsibilities of enterprises. Strictly implement the full-staff safety production responsibility system, improve the safety management framework, strengthen the safety management of inspection, maintenance, and repair activities, enhance the safety management of special operations as well as employee safety training and education, improve emergency response plans, and intensify emergency drills. Third, it is necessary to strengthen supervision and law enforcement, and to strictly investigate and punish acts of violation of regulations. It is necessary to make full use of various methods, both offline and online, such as comprehensive safety inspections and annual law enforcement inspections, to carry out targeted law enforcement efforts regarding enterprises’ overall safety responsibility systems, as well as operations related to starting up and shutting down production facilities and carrying out maintenance work. Given that Anhui Haoyuan Chemical Group Co., Ltd. is included in the relocation plan, permanent suspension of operations must be imposed on the production line where this accident occurred ； Accelerate the relocation of other existing production and storage facilities, and at the same time conduct a comprehensive and thorough assessment of their safety conditions in terms of safety management, safety facilities, staffing, and accountability. Those that do not meet the requirements must suspend operations for rectification until they can be relocated in a completely safe manner.