@Safety expert: These three “major” terms should not be used indiscriminately

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Today, let’s talk about three commonly used terms related to safety in production. That is: major hazard sources, major potential hazards, and major accidents. These three “major” terms should not be used indiscriminately; they all have clear definitions and concepts. 1 Major hazard sources: Often, people refer to places that they subjectively consider to be dangerous as major hazard sources, which is incorrect. Paragraph 2 of Article 112 of the Work Safety Law states that a major hazard source refers to a unit (including sites and facilities) that permanently or temporarily produces, transports, uses, or stores hazardous substances in quantities equal to or exceeding the critical level. So, what is the critical amount? Refer to the national standard \"Identification of Major and Highly Hazardous Sources of Hazardous Chemicals\" (GB18218-2009). Clear regulations exist for the critical quantities that constitute a significant hazard source for various hazardous chemicals. For example, the critical amount for acetylene is 1 ton, while that for gasoline is 200 tons. 2 Major Hazards: When identifying hazards, the term “major hazards” should not be used indiscriminately. Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Interim Provisions on the Investigation and Rectification of Potential Hazards in Production Safety Accidents (Order No. 16 of the General Administration) states that potential hazards are divided into general potential hazards and major potential hazards. General accident hazards refer to those that pose a relatively low level of risk and are not difficult to rectify; they can be addressed and eliminated immediately once identified. Major accident hazards refer to those that pose a significant threat and are difficult to rectify; such hazards require the suspension of all or part of operations, and require a certain period of time for remediation before they can be eliminated. They also include those that cannot be resolved by the production or business entity itself due to external factors. 3 Major Accidents: What exactly constitutes a major accident? This cannot be determined arbitrarily; there are clear regulations regarding the classification of production safety accidents. Article 3 of the Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation, and Handling of Production Safety Accidents stipulates that, based on the casualties or direct economic losses caused by production safety accidents (hereinafter referred to as accidents), such accidents are generally classified into the following categories: (1) Extraordinarily serious accidents refer to those that result in 30 or more deaths, or 100 or more serious injuries (including acute industrial poisoning, the same hereafter), or direct economic losses of over 100 million yuan; (2) Serious accidents refer to those that result in 10 to 30 deaths, or 50 to 100 serious injuries, or direct economic losses of between 50 million yuan and 100 million yuan; (3) Relatively serious accidents refer to those that result in 3 to 10 deaths, or 10 to 50 serious injuries, or direct economic losses of between 10 million yuan and 50 million yuan; (4) Minor accidents refer to those that result in 3 or fewer deaths, or 10 or fewer serious injuries, or direct economic losses of less than 10 million yuan. In summary, many terms commonly used in the field of work safety have specific meanings. Whether they are corporate safety officers or regulatory officials, it is essential to understand these terms with their particular meanings; one should not assume anything or use them indiscriminately.