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**Opinions of the General Office of the State Administration of Work Safety on Strengthening Law Enforcement Inspections in Emergency Management for Work Safety General Office of Work Safety, Emergency Management [2016] No. 74 To the Work Safety Supervision Bureaus of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, as well as to the provincial coal mine safety supervision bureaus: In order to implement the spirit of the “Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening Work Safety Supervision and Law Enforcement” (Guo Ban Fa [2015] No. 20) and to enhance law enforcement inspections in emergency management for work safety (hereinafter referred to as emergency management), and in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Work Safety Law as well as relevant provisions of the State Council, the following opinions are put forward: I. Guiding Principles and Objectives Guided by the spirit of the Party*, it is necessary to fully implement the “Four Comprehensives” strategic framework. Law enforcement inspections in emergency management should be integrated into the framework of work safety law enforcement inspections. A combination of routine inspections and administrative law enforcement should be adopted, inspection procedures should be standardized, new methods for inspections should be developed, and any illegal or non-compliant activities should be strictly addressed. Enterprises should be encouraged to improve their emergency management organizations, establish sound emergency management systems and mechanisms, ensure the necessary conditions for emergency response, and optimize the allocation of emergency resources, so as to ensure that all relevant laws and regulations on emergency management are properly implemented. II. Basic Elements of Emergency Management Law Enforcement Inspections (1) Subjects and main contents of law enforcement inspections. The targets of law enforcement inspections in emergency management are various production and business entities, particularly mines, metal smelting facilities, as well as enterprises that produce, operate (including those with storage facilities), or store hazardous chemicals; in addition, chemical enterprises that use a quantity of hazardous chemicals equal to or exceeding the **specified threshold** are also subject to such inspections. The content mainly covers seven aspects: the establishment of an enterprise emergency management organizational structure, the development of emergency rescue teams, the provision of emergency rescue supplies and equipment, the implementation of regulations regarding emergency plan management, the organization of emergency drills, emergency management training and education, and the handling of accidents. Emergency management law enforcement inspections include routine supervision and inspection activities regarding enterprises’ emergency management efforts, as well as the investigation and punishment of illegal acts in this area. (II) Entities responsible for conducting law enforcement inspections. The entities responsible for carrying out law enforcement inspections in emergency management are the safety supervision and inspection departments at all levels, as well as their emergency management agencies. Where specialized law enforcement agencies already exist, the task is, in principle, entrusted to them for execution. (III) Methods of law enforcement inspections. Emergency management law enforcement inspections refer to the activities carried out by safety supervision and inspection agencies at all levels, as well as their emergency management departments, in accordance with the annual work plans for safety supervision and inspection. These agencies examine whether production and business units and their employees comply with relevant laws, regulations, rules, and guidelines related to emergency management, and where necessary, impose administrative penalties or take other administrative coercive actions in accordance with the law. Law enforcement inspections mainly employ methods such as targeted inspections, special inspections, random spot checks, covert investigations, and cross-inspections. III. Requirements for the Organization of Emergency Management Law Enforcement Inspections (1) Establish and improve an annual work plan for emergency management law enforcement inspections. Include the contents of emergency management law enforcement inspections in the annual work plan for safety production inspections. Based on this plan, develop on-site inspection plans for emergency management, and implement the requirements for law enforcement inspections carried out at different levels and in different categories. Taking into account factors such as the number of enterprises in a given area, their distribution, and the nature of the hazards they pose, determine the areas that need to be covered by these inspections. Flexibly apply various inspection methods, and increase the frequency of inspections for enterprises that are under heightened supervision, in order to eliminate any gaps or blind spots in the oversight of these enterprises’ emergency management efforts. (II) Implement tabular-based law enforcement inspections for emergency management. Refer to the emergency management law enforcement inspection checklist (see attachment), and determine the inspection items and contents based on the actual conditions of the production and operation units. Through on-site inspections, reviewing relevant documents, and seeking information from relevant units and personnel, each item is inspected and the findings are recorded one by one. Regarding the issues identified during the law enforcement inspection, they must be communicated to the inspected entity on the spot, along with clear requirements for rectification and a deadline for re-inspection. (III) Standardize the process of administrative penalties in emergency management law enforcement. Strictly in accordance with the requirements of the Administrative Penalty Law and the Measures for Administrative Penalties on Illegal Acts in Work Safety (issued by Order No. 15 of the State Administration of Work Safety, amended by Order No. 77), standardize the procedures for administering administrative penalties. In accordance with the requirements of the **Notice issued by the General Administration of Work Safety** (An Jian Zong Zheng Fa [2010] No. 112), law enforcement documents must be selected and used appropriately, as well as prepared in a standardized manner. The form and method of obtaining evidence must comply with the provisions of the Administrative Penalty Law, the Administrative Litigation Law, and relevant judicial interpretations; no enforcement measures that are unfavorable to the party concerned shall be taken without prior investigation and collection of evidence, or when there is insufficient evidence. The exercise of discretionary power in administrative penalties must be strictly regulated; it is strictly prohibited to use penalties as a substitute for proper management or for implementing corrective actions. If a party has doubts regarding the outcome of such discretionary decisions, an explanation should be provided. Before making an administrative penalty decision in accordance with the law, the party concerned shall be informed of the facts, reasons, and basis for such a decision, as well as the proposed administrative penalty, and of their rights to make statements and defenses. (IV) Emphasize the practical effectiveness of law enforcement inspections in emergency management. Reduce the levels of law enforcement inspections and shift the focus of such inspections to lower levels. Improve the informatization level of law enforcement inspections, and accelerate the integration of emergency management law enforcement inspection work into the work safety law enforcement information system. Strengthen the development of equipment for grassroots law enforcement inspections, introduce intelligent inspection terminals, and gradually ensure that information, processes, activities, and records related to law enforcement inspections are stored online. Strengthen the statistical analysis of law enforcement inspection results, conduct regular quantitative comparisons, focus on understanding the overall situation, identify periodic patterns and emerging issues, and put forward targeted countermeasures to effectively improve the efficiency of law enforcement inspections in emergency management. IV. Guarantee Measures for Law Enforcement Inspections in Emergency Management (1) Further enhance the understanding of law enforcement inspections in emergency management. Enforcement inspections for emergency management are a means by which safety supervision and inspection agencies, as well as their emergency management agencies, carry out their duties related to emergency management supervision, inspection, and administrative law enforcement in accordance with the law. Enforcement inspections for emergency management, as an important part of enforcement inspections for work safety, are also necessary measures to urge enterprises to effectively respond to accidents and disasters, reduce losses to lives and property, and ensure that emergency rescue efforts are carried out properly. Safety supervision and inspection departments at all levels should further raise their awareness, clarify their approaches, and make effective use of law enforcement inspection methods to encourage enterprises to continuously improve their emergency management capabilities. (II) Strengthen the organizational leadership of law enforcement inspections for emergency management. Safety supervision and inspection departments at all levels should regard strengthening law enforcement inspections in emergency management as an important task in fully fulfilling their responsibilities in this area. They should establish a responsibility system under which top leaders take overall responsibility for such inspections, clarify the division of duties, strengthen institutional development, actively explore effective ways to facilitate law enforcement inspections at the grassroots level, and provide the necessary human, material, and financial resources to ensure the smooth conduct of these inspections. (III) Implement supervision over law enforcement inspections in emergency management. Level-based supervision should be strengthened through evaluation assessments and file reviews, in order to promptly identify and correct problems that arise during law enforcement inspections. Any failure by the relevant departments and law enforcement officers to carry out their duties, or their performance of those duties in a unlawful or improper manner, must be promptly corrected, they must be ordered to make corrections within a set time limit, such actions must be revoked or altered directly, and the relevant departments and individuals must be held strictly accountable. It is necessary to further establish and improve systems for making law enforcement inspections public and for handling complaints related to administrative law enforcement, so as to voluntarily accept societal oversight ； Invite the news media to participate in law enforcement inspections at appropriate times, leverage their role in public oversight, and enhance the transparency of such inspections in emergency management. (IV) Strengthen the development of the team responsible for law enforcement inspections in emergency management. Professional personnel suitable for the requirements of emergency management law enforcement inspections should be assigned to strengthen the capacity for law enforcement inspections at the grassroots level; it is strictly prohibited for individuals without the qualifications for work in safety production law enforcement to carry out such inspections. Strengthen training on the capabilities for law enforcement inspections in emergency management, establish a training and assessment system for inspectors, and comprehensively improve the professional skills and performance capabilities of the inspection teams.