Expert analysis: Will the registered safety engineer title be abolished?

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Source: Liu Zujian, Secretary-General of Deyang Occupational Safety and Health Association, 2016-8-22 16:54:54. There are some current trends in the work of occupational safety professionals: for example, the registration process has been suspended, and no clear timeline for its resumption has been established. The State Council is working to eliminate certain administrative approvals as well as professional/occupational qualification requirements. Currently, there are 618 such professional qualification certificates nationwide, of which 218 have been revoked as of July 15, with more to be abolished in the fifth batch this year. 　　Some insights into the work of certified safety engineers. Currently, several phenomena have emerged in the work of certified safety engineers: the registration process has been suspended, and no timeline for its resumption has been set. The State Council is currently streamlining and abolishing certain administrative approval procedures as well as professional qualification requirements. At present, there are 618 types of professional qualification certificates nationwide; as of July 15, 218 of them have already been abolished, and a fifth batch will be phased out this year. According to information from the Human Resources Department, 70% of professional qualification certificates are set to be revoked. At present, the benefits and policies pertaining to Certified Safety Engineers remain unclear; there is still controversy regarding their official title and classification. Moreover, the competent authorities responsible for examinations and registration have yet to be determined. Will the professional qualifications of Certified Safety Engineers be abolished? All these issues inevitably warrant great concern and worry among Certified Safety Engineers. Regarding these issues that concern safety engineers alike, I would like to share some of my personal views with you. 　　I. Will the requirement for certified safety engineers be abolished?
(A) Article 24 of the Work Safety Law clearly stipulates that units involved in the production and storage of hazardous materials, as well as mines and metal smelting enterprises, must employ certified safety engineers to handle work safety management. Other production and business entities are encouraged to hire certified safety engineers to engage in work related to work safety management. This is the legal basis for the establishment of safety engineers. 　　(II) On July 15, while abolishing another 62 professional qualification certificates in the fourth batch, the State Council emphasized that the items being abolished are mainly those lacking a legal basis, as well as those already stipulated in laws but can be repealed following amendments. It was also clarified that a fifth batch of projects to be canceled will be announced by the end of this year, especially those that are not closely related to **safety, public safety, or the protection of people’s lives and property. Work related to safe production is crucial for the safety of people’s lives and property. Safety engineers constitute the backbone of services provided for safe production, in line with the principle of professional qualifications retained by the State Council. 　　(III) Article 5 of the “Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening Law Enforcement and Supervision regarding Work Safety” (Guo Ban Fa [2015] No. 20) emphasizes, in the context of urging enterprises to fulfill their primary responsibilities for work safety, that “enterprises must appoint safety management personnel and certified safety engineers as required.” Article 12, under the section on utilizing market mechanisms to strengthen safety supervision, stipulates that it is necessary to establish and improve a four-tier expert workforce and service mechanism for work safety at the **, provincial, municipal, and county levels; foster and support research institutes, industry associations, professional service organizations, and certified safety engineer firms in participating in work safety efforts; and actively provide management and technical services related to work safety. Meanwhile, in the “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Cultivation of Talents in Chemical Safety”, issued by the Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Work Safety, it is proposed to revise and improve the standards for certified safety engineers and certified chemical engineers, so as to encourage certified safety engineering firms, associations of certified safety engineers, scientific research institutions specializing in safety technologies, and safety assessment agencies within large-scale chemical industrial parks to fulfill their social responsibilities. Safety engineers fall under the **professional fields encouraged for development**. 　　(IV) The website of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China features a section for querying information on safety engineers; it is rare to find websites of this level that offer the possibility to check professional qualifications. 　　(V) The Ministry of Education and the State Administration of Work Safety, in their “Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Cultivation of Talents in Chemical Safety” (Document No. Jiao Gao), clearly stated the need to revise and improve the standards for Certified Safety Engineers and Certified Chemical Engineers. It also called upon large chemical industrial parks, firms specializing in safety engineering, associations of Certified Safety Engineers, research institutions focused on safety technology, and safety assessment agencies to fulfill their social responsibilities by actively facilitating practical training opportunities for students. 　　(VI) **Recently, the State Administration of Work Safety has issued a series of administrative regulations concerning certified safety engineers. On July 8 alone, the Administration’s website published 15 pieces of information related to certified safety engineers.** Among them: —— Order No. 77 issued by the State Administration of Work Safety stipulates that the examination and registration procedures related to the professional qualifications of certified safety engineers shall be included within the scope of administrative approval duties and accountability of the work safety supervision authorities. Additionally, whether units involved in the production and storage of hazardous materials, as well as mines and metal smelting enterprises, employ or hire certified safety engineers is listed as a key item for inspection by work safety supervision and inspection agencies at all levels. 　　——According to Decree No. 78 of the State Administration of Work Safety, “Decision on Repealing and Amending Nine Regulations in the Field of Non-Coal Mines”, registered safety engineers must be included among the full-time safety management personnel of enterprises. 　　——In Order No. 79 issued by the State Administration of Work Safety, titled “Decision on Repealing and Amending Seven Regulations in Areas Such as Hazardous Chemicals”, a new paragraph was added as Paragraph 3 to the original “Implementation Measures for the Safety Production License of Hazardous Chemicals Production Enterprises”. This paragraph stipulates that enterprises must employ registered safety engineers specializing in the safety of hazardous materials to handle work related to safety production management. The original \"Measures for the Safety Supervision and Management of Hazardous Chemicals Construction Projects\" have been amended; when conducting the \"three simultaneities\" inspection for such projects, it is now required to provide a certificate of qualification as a registered safety engineer. 　　——In Order No. 80 issued by the State Administration of Work Safety, titled “Decision on Repealing and Amending Ten Regulations in Areas Such as Labor Protection Equipment and Safety Training”, Article 5 of the “Measures for the Administration of Work Safety Training” was amended. It stipulates that safety training institutions providing training for the principal persons in charge and safety management personnel of units engaged in the production and storage of hazardous materials, as well as mining and metal smelting enterprises; for special operation personnel; and for certified safety engineers, must submit a written report to the local work safety supervision and administration department and the coal mine safety training regulatory authority regarding details such as their instructors, teaching methods, and practical training facilities. It is also stipulated that the safety training for the registration staff at hazardous chemicals registration agencies, as well as for those responsible for safety assessment, consultation, testing, and inspection, registered safety engineers, and emergency response personnel for work safety, shall be carried out in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and rules. Amendments have been made to Article 6 of the Interim Provisions on the Supervision and Management of Work Safety in Food Production Enterprises; it stipulates that food production enterprises with more than 100 employees shall establish a work safety management organization or appoint at least three full-time work safety managers, and such enterprises are encouraged to hire registered safety engineers to handle work safety management tasks. 　　II. What message do the above facts convey? (1) The policy requirement of assigning safety engineers as stipulated has expanded the range of industries that require such engineers compared to the past; the requirements are clearer, the details are more specific, and the feasibility of implementation has been greatly improved. 　　(II) The training and examination approval for safety engineers, as well as their registration, assignment, and utilization, have been included in the scope of inspections and evaluations carried out by safety supervision authorities on enterprises and training institutions. It is specifically stipulated that the situation regarding whether units involved in the production and storage of hazardous materials, as well as mining and metal smelting enterprises, have assigned or hired registered safety engineers shall be included as key items for supervision and inspection by safety production supervision and inspection agencies at all levels. 　　(III) Thirdly, the provision or employment of registered safety engineers is a prerequisite for obtaining safety production licenses and for the review of the “three simultaneities” regarding safety in units engaged in the production and storage of hazardous materials, as well as in mines and metal smelting enterprises.
(IV) It is necessary to encourage and foster the development of firms of registered safety engineers, associations of registered safety engineers, and research institutions specializing in safety technology, so that these organizations can fulfill their social responsibilities. This is not only imperative but also the direction for future development. The requirements for social service agencies to provide work safety services have been clearly defined. 　　It can be seen that the role of registered safety engineers will not weaken, but rather continue to strengthen. 　　III. Current status and characteristics of certified safety engineers in Sichuan Province (1) Insufficient number of professionals. There are just over 10,000 certified safety engineers in the entire province. According to statistics from the first quarter of 2015 on the national economy, there were 682,717 enterprises in Sichuan Province, among which 174,890 were manufacturing enterprises. If staffing is to be arranged according to the industries and numbers required by the Work Safety Administration, overall, there is still a significant shortage of safety engineers. 　　(II) The distribution of personnel is highly unbalanced. Based on my research, I’ve found that some large enterprises have over 120 certified safety engineers employed within just one company; most of them are not working in safety management positions. Safety engineers are notably concentrated in large enterprises and industry sectors, but they have relatively limited room to exert their influence. On the other hand, over 95% of enterprises, especially small and micro enterprises, do not have safety engineers. When conducting standardized evaluations on several chemical enterprises, we found that most of them did not employ safety engineers when renewing their work safety licenses. There are a few cases where individuals are hired but no labor relationship is established with the enterprise; in reality, this constitutes illegal acts such as certificate lending or sharing. 　　(III) The conditions for safety engineers to provide services to society are not yet in place. There is a lack of supporting policies for safety engineers who work in companies where such professionals are concentrated to provide services to over 95% of small and micro enterprises. The departmental ownership of personnel means that safety engineers can only work at the registered organizations, limiting their ability to serve society. 　　(IV) To date, there is no specialized management organization responsible for establishing contacts, overseeing, managing, evaluating, and providing services to safety engineers, which is a key issue restricting the development of these professionals. There is a lack of a platform for safety engineers to provide services, as well as to exchange information and communicate with one another; moreover, the flow of information regarding the demand for safety engineers is also inadequate. 　　IV. Future trends in the work of safety engineers 　At present, in the practice of ensuring safety in enterprises, it has been found that there are many things that enterprises wish to carry out, but they lack the capacity to do so on their own. There are many things that society collectively needs to be done, yet there is no leading department responsible for them. There are many things that the safety supervision department wants to do and believes should be done, but it fails to do so because they are too minor or due to a lack of resources. This has created many vacuum areas, making it difficult to effectively implement various regulations aimed at strengthening the basic management of work safety, particularly those designed to enhance the inherent safety of enterprises. 　　(1) A platform for certified safety engineers will emerge. For technical service organizations such as certified safety engineer firms and associations of certified safety engineers, there is a demand from enterprises and from certified safety engineers; most importantly, **there is demand—the market has a need.** To achieve this goal, it is necessary to build several such platforms. 　　(II) The practice standards for safety engineers at the **level will be established; in the future, their scope and content of work will become more detailed and specialized, with a clearer division of responsibilities among different professionals. Professional competence is given even more emphasis. 　　(III) The evaluation, rewards and punishments, continuing education, and management regarding the work of certified safety engineers will become more clearly defined. With the safety supervision authorities strengthening their management of certified safety engineers, some of the previously concerning and difficult issues related to these professionals are likely to be resolved. 　　(IV) The rational flow of safety engineers will become possible and will be governed by established rules, while practices such as holding certificates on behalf of others or borrowing certificates will be eliminated. Practicing without authorization will be punished, and qualifications may even be revoked. 　　(5) Safety engineers will be required to learn new technologies, knowledge, and methods at a higher level. Personal professional ethics, as well as the ability and level to solve problems, will be the only criteria for being accepted and recognized by society. Individual capabilities will be linked to income and other benefits