This standard, in force for nearly 40 years, is finally set to be updated!

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\"Classification of Occupational Injury and Death Accidents in Enterprises\" (GB/T 6441-1986) is a standard issued by the **Standardization Administration on May 31, 1986**, and it came into effect on February 1, 1987. It is applicable to the statistics of occupational injury and death accidents in enterprises. This standard defines terms such as injury and fatality accidents and lost workdays, and clarifies the criteria for accident statistics and the analysis framework. It had not been revised in the nearly 40 years since its implementation. In the first half of this year, the Ministry of Emergency Management sought feedback; the \"Classification and Coding of Production Safety Accidents\" (GB 6441-XXXX) replaced the \"Classification of Accidents Involving Enterprise Employees\" (GB/T 6441-1986), changing from a \"recommendatory\" standard to a \"mandatory\" one. The types of accidents were further refined, with the number of categories increasing from 20 to 29. To see specifically which items retain the old descriptions and which are newly added, please refer to the table below: No. Type Name No. Type Name No. Type Name 1 Being struck by objects 11 Falls from heights 21 Explosions involving civilian explosives 2 Injuries caused by vehicles within factories/sites 12 Falls 22 Explosions involving fireworks and firecrackers 3 Injuries caused by road/railway vehicles 13 Collapses 23 Explosions involving combustible solids 4 Injuries caused by machinery 14 Roof falls and rib failures 24 Explosions involving hot molten materials 5 Injuries caused by lifting machinery 15 Water inrush 25 Poisoning 6 Injuries caused by lifted objects 16 Submersion 26 Asphyxiation 7 Electric shock 17 Container explosions 27 Landslides 8 Drowning 18 Explosions involving flammable gas 28 Leaks 9 Burns and scalds 19 Explosions involving vapors of flammable liquids 29 Other accidents 10 Fires 20 Dust explosions There have been significant changes in the classification of work-related accidents: some categories have been removed, some have been refined, and others have been added. The deleted accident categories include: “blasting”, “gas explosion”, “boiler explosion”, “other explosions”” ； The modified accident categories include: “Mechanical injury” has been changed to “Injury caused by machinery”” ； The detailed categories of accidents are as follows: “Vehicle-related injuries” is further divided into “injuries caused by vehicles within factories/grounds” and “injuries caused by road (rail) vehicles”; “Crane-related injuries” is divided into “injuries caused by lifting machinery” and “injuries caused by lifted objects”; “Explosions caused by gunpowder” is divided into “explosions caused by civilian explosive materials” and “explosions caused by fireworks”; “Poisoning and suffocation” is divided into “poisoning” and “suffocation”” ； The newly added accident categories are: “Fall”, “Submersion”, “Combustible gas explosion”, “Combustible solution vapor explosion”, “Dust explosion”, “Combustible solid explosion”, “High-temperature molten material explosion”, “Landslide”, “Leakage”. The above shows the updated content regarding accident classification; below are the specific definitions for each type of accident: Object strike: An accident caused by an object’s inertia under the influence of gravity, stress, or other external forces. Injuries caused by vehicles on the premises: Accidents that occur when vehicles are involved in production and operational activities within a business or production site, resulting from collisions, scratches, crushing, compression, rollovers, etc. Injuries caused by road (rail) vehicles: Accidents that occur when passenger and freight vehicles are engaged in operational activities on public roads or railways, resulting from collisions, scratches, crushing, compression, rollovers, etc. Mechanical injury: Accidents such as pinching, crushing, entanglement, shearing, cutting, puncturing, and object ejection caused by mechanical equipment (including its components) or processed parts coming into direct contact with the human body or other facilities. Injuries caused by lifting equipment: Accidents that occur during the installation, dismantling, maintenance, testing, and lifting operations of lifting equipment, resulting from compression, overturning, breaking, collapse, falling of components, or impact by lifting accessories. Accidents such as falls, injuries caused by machinery, and electric shocks that occur during the aforementioned tasks do not fall under this category; they are classified separately as falls from heights or drops, injuries caused by machinery, or electric shocks ； Accidents caused by movement of mobile lifting equipment during operations other than lifting are not classified under this category; they are instead classified as accidents caused by vehicles on the factory (site) premises or by road (rail) vehicles. Injuries caused by lifted objects: Accidents that occur during the operation of lifting equipment due to the falling, collision, or crushing of lifted objects. Electric shock: An accident caused by an electric current passing through the human body or by discharge between a live object and the human body. Drowning: An accident in which a large amount of liquid or fluid enters the lungs through the mouth and nose, causing obstruction of the respiratory tract and leading to acute oxygen deficiency and suffocation, resulting in death or injury. Scalding: An accident in which high-temperature substances, objects, radiation, or chemicals come into contact with the human body, causing injury or death. Electrical burns and burns from fires are not classified under this category; they are instead categorized as electric shock and fire injuries respectively. Fire: An accident caused by uncontrolled combustion in terms of time and space. Fall from height: An accident caused by a fall while working at height. Fall: An accident caused by a fall from a height or a stumble on flat ground when not performing work at heights. Collapse: An accident that occurs when an object, structure, or pile collapses or topples as a result of external forces or gravity, exceeding its strength limits or due to a loss of structural stability. Roof and sidewall collapse: Collapse accidents in mine working faces, shafts, hoistways, or chambers caused by inadequate support or by the effects of ground pressure. Water inrush: An accident caused by the uncontrolled influx of surface water or groundwater into underground working areas such as mines, tunnels, or adits through various pathways like fissures, faults, and collapse zones, due to inadequate water prevention and control measures. Inundation: An accident that occurs when surface water or groundwater enters the production area due to inadequate water control measures. Except for water leakage incidents. Container explosion: Accidents caused by the explosion of various containers due to quality defects, improper use, or inadequate maintenance. Flammable gas explosion: An accident that occurs when an explosive mixture of flammable gases and air (oxygen) explodes upon contact with a fire source. Explosion of flammable liquid vapors: An accident caused by the explosion of an explosive mixture formed by flammable liquid vapors and air (oxygen) when exposed to a source of ignition. Dust explosion: An accident caused by an explosive mixture formed from combustible dust and air (oxygen), which explodes when exposed to a fire source. Explosion of civil explosive materials: Accidents caused by the explosion of civil explosive materials during their production, handling, storage, transportation, and use. Firework and firecracker explosions: Accidents caused by the explosion of fireworks and firecrackers during their production, handling, storage, transportation, and setting off. Explosion of combustible solids: Accidents caused by the explosion of combustible solids other than dust, civil explosive materials, and fireworks. High-temperature molten material explosion: An accident caused by the explosion of high-temperature molten material when it comes into contact with water. Poisoning: An acute poisoning incident caused by the ingestion of toxic substances through the digestive or respiratory system, or through skin contact in the human body. Asphyxiation: Accidents caused by oxygen deficiency in the environment or mechanical asphyxiation. Landslide: An accident caused by production and operational activities, in which the slope’s rock and soil masses undergo relative sliding along a shear failure plane. Leak: An accident that occurs when gases, liquids, or solid particles escape or leak out for various reasons. Other accidents: Accidents that cannot be classified into the first 28 types. Author’s note: As someone who has worked in hazardous chemicals manufacturing for over a decade, the most notable aspect of this update to the accident classification standards is the addition of \"leakage\" – which is by far the most common type of accident in our industry! In the past, accidents of this type were often classified as “other accidents,” which made it difficult to identify them when summarizing typical cases; from now on, they will all be classified under “leaks,” making the summaries much simpler. This regulatory document is still in the consultation phase and has not been officially released yet. More details are not listed here one by one; those in the security industry who are interested can search for the original draft online to take a closer look at it. As for the specific date of release and implementation, we still need to wait for further instructions from the Ministry of Emergency Management. For now, the old standard, \"Classification of Accidents Involving Employees in Enterprises\" (GB/T 6441-1986), remains in use!