The Ministry of Emergency Management has specified 29 key areas for law enforcement inspections

Thread Content

The Ministry of Emergency Management has issued the \"Guidance Catalogue on Key Matters for Law Enforcement Inspections on Work Safety in Hazardous Chemicals Enterprises in 2023\". In order to further standardize and strengthen the supervision and law enforcement related to work safety in hazardous chemicals industries, improve the quality of identifying and addressing safety risks and hazards, as well as enhance the willingness and capability to detect problems, the Ministry of Emergency Management has recently released this Guidance Catalogue, requiring local emergency management departments to follow it strictly, focus on key areas, and carry out law enforcement actions accurately. The Guidelines focus on the prevention and control of major safety risks as well as the identification and resolution of major safety hazards. They emphasize three key elements: key personnel (the main persons in charge of enterprises), key enterprises (those involved in high-risk chemical processes, hazardous chemicals that are under strict supervision, or enterprises with major hazard sources), and key processes (special operations, dual prevention mechanisms, alarm interlocks, etc.). The guidelines specify 29 key areas for law enforcement inspections, of which 24 fall under basic categories and 5 relate to high-risk sub-sectors. Each item includes the key aspects of law enforcement inspections regarding the safety of hazardous chemicals, the basis for such inspections, relevant regulatory documents and standard requirements, as well as the grounds for imposing penalties. The basic categories mainly cover whether the primary person responsible for safety production is identified, the issuance of safety risk commitment announcements, special rectification efforts to ensure safe operation of facilities despite existing issues, management related to the \"two key areas and one major hazard\", personnel qualifications and educational backgrounds, the operation of storage facilities, and change management. High-risk sub-sectors mainly include key hazardous chemicals under strict regulation such as *ao acid an, butadiene, styrene, vinyl chloride, and liquid chlorine, as well as hazardous chemical processes like nitration. The Guidelines emphasize that emergency management departments in various regions should earnestly study and implement the important directives on work safety issued by ****. Adhering to the principle that the well-being of the people and their lives come first, they must address issues such as insufficient focus on major safety risks and hazards, inadequate thoroughness in safety inspections, and lax, ineffective supervision and law enforcement in the context of safety inspections related to hazardous chemicals. They should continuously improve the precision, standardization, and informatization of these inspection and enforcement efforts, carry out strict and targeted law enforcement against key enterprises, severely punish illegal activities in accordance with the law, strengthen coordination between judicial and administrative actions, and thereby enhance the deterrent effect of law enforcement against illegal enterprises. The Guidelines require that emergency management departments in various regions, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, strengthen law enforcement inspections by focusing on key areas for such inspections, taking into account the local conditions as well as the annual safety production inspection plans. It is necessary to report on the progress of law enforcement inspections in a timely manner, analyze the key and common issues identified, establish and improve systems for supervising the rectification of these issues, and work to eliminate potential accident risks and resolve problems at their root. By enforcing laws strictly, it is necessary to encourage enterprises to take proactive responsibility for safety production, effectively prevent and mitigate major safety risks, and continuously improve the level of intrinsic safety as well as safety protection capabilities.