Notice on the Extraordinarily Serious Accident of the Collapse of the Construction Platform at the Cooling Tower of Jiangxi Fengcheng Power Plant on November 24

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Notice from the Office of the State Council Safety Committee on the Particularly Serious Accident Involving the Collapse of a Construction Platform at a Cooling Tower at the Fengcheng Power Plant in Jiangxi on November 24, 2016 – Safety Committee Office Circular [2016] No. 15: To the safety committees of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; to the relevant member units of the State Council Safety Committee; and to the relevant central state-owned enterprises: At around 7:40 a.m. on November 24, 2016, a construction platform at a cooling tower at the third-phase construction site of the Fengcheng Power Plant in Jiangxi collapsed, resulting in 67 deaths so far. The general contractor for this project is Central South Electric Power Design Institute, while the construction contractor is Hebei Yinen Flue Stack Engineering Co., Ltd. Following the accident, **** and the State Council attached great importance to it. Leaders such as **** and Prime Minister **, along with other officials from **** and the State Council, issued important directives calling for efforts to carry out rescue and treatment operations as well as post-incident handling. It was necessary to determine the causes of the accident as soon as possible, draw serious lessons from it, and hold those responsible accountable. All regions and departments were required to learn from this incident, strengthen supervision and preventive measures, thoroughly investigate all potential hazards, ensure strict compliance with safety regulations, effectively address any safety gaps, and safeguard the lives and property of the people, in order to prevent such serious accidents from occurring again. To thoroughly implement the important directives of **** and other leading officials of the State Council, to draw serious lessons from past accidents, and to further improve work related to safe construction practices, the following requirements are set forth: First, immediate special inspections should be carried out to prevent collapse accidents in construction sites. All regions and relevant departments must carefully study and implement the important instructions on safety production given by central leaders such as **** and Prime Minister **, raise their awareness further, firmly establish the principle that development must not come at the cost of safety, and always maintain a high level of vigilance with regard to safety production. It is necessary to fully recognize the severe situation regarding work safety at present. We must earnestly implement the requirements set out in the Notice issued by the Office of the State Council’s Safety Committee on Printing and Distributing Guidelines for Addressing the Root Causes in order to Prevent Serious and Catastrophic Accidents (Safety Committee Office [2016] No. 3), as well as the Opinions on Implementing the Guidelines for Preventing Serious and Catastrophic Accidents and Establishing a Dual Prevention Mechanism (Safety Committee Office [2016] No. 11). In light of the prominent problems existing in the field of construction safety, special inspections aimed at preventing collapse accidents should be carried out immediately. Special attention will be paid to addressing the safety hazards and illegal operations present in various aspects such as high-altitude construction platforms, lifting machinery, bridge erection machines, scaffolding, and formwork support systems, in order to resolutely prevent and curb serious accidents in the field of construction. Strictly crack down on illegal subcontracting, subletting, and substituting management for contracting in engineering projects. For major safety hazards and serious illegal activities identified during inspections, orders must be issued firmly to suspend operations for rectification ； For those that cannot be rectified immediately, a rectification plan should be formulated for each case, ensuring the implementation of responsibilities, measures, funds, time limits, and contingency plans” ； Those who refuse to make corrections or fail to do so adequately shall be severely punished in accordance with the law, and the relevant responsible persons shall be held accountable. Second, it is necessary to strictly enforce the primary responsibility of enterprises involved in construction projects for ensuring work safety. All regions, relevant departments, and organizations must, in accordance with the law, urge all parties involved in construction projects—such as those responsible for construction, supervision, design, etc.—to fulfill their primary responsibilities. In particular, project owners must exercise strict control over project contracting, manage project timelines effectively, and organize construction activities in a coordinated manner. During construction at the end of winter, construction companies are strictly prohibited from engaging in any actions that endanger safe production, such as rushing the schedule or trying to complete work too quickly ； It is necessary to implement the safety responsibilities of the grassroots project departments, and detail them down to every technical aspect at the construction site as well as to the operators in various positions ； It is necessary to further strengthen safety management at construction sites, standardize construction procedures, enforce strict operating protocols, refine safety measures, and ensure strict implementation of construction plans. The “five musts” should be adhered to: a construction plan must be prepared before starting any construction work; such plans must be approved or reviewed in accordance with regulations; safety and technical instructions must be provided before commencing work; construction must be carried out in accordance with the planned procedures; and only after the construction plan has been approved can work proceed to the next stage. It is necessary to further strengthen the training, assessment, and supervision of workers on site, especially those engaged in special types of work such as scaffolding workers and those responsible for the installation and dismantling of lifting equipment. This will help foster among these workers a habit of complying with rules and regulations, improve their awareness of safety measures, and eliminate behaviors that violate safety protocols at construction sites, such as unauthorized commands, improper operations, and breaches of labor discipline. Third, it is necessary to effectively implement the regulatory responsibilities of the authorities in charge of the construction industry. All relevant authorities in this field, especially those in charge of the power industry, should adhere to the principles that \"those who are in charge of an industry must also be responsible for its safety, those who handle certain tasks must ensure safety, and those who are involved in production and operations must prioritize safety\", as well as the principle that \"the party in charge is responsible.\" They should step up their daily supervision and enforcement efforts. Key areas, key enterprises, and major projects should be subject to regular inspections, random checks, and mutual inspections, so that problems and potential hazards can be identified promptly, corrected within set time frames, and followed up on. Illegal and irregular activities must be severely cracked down on, violations must be corrected, and potential accident risks must be eliminated. Those who fail to carry out special inspections properly, treat them as a mere formality, or go through the motions, especially in cases where serious hazards exist and accidents result from such negligence, will be subject to public condemnation and severe legal action, with relevant units and individuals held accountable. All regions and relevant departments must thoroughly learn from the lessons of these accidents, strengthen warning education, earnestly implement corrective measures, ensure that all tasks are carried out effectively, and strive to achieve tangible results. IV. Severely investigate construction accidents in accordance with the law. All regions shall, in line with the principles of \"not letting anything go unchecked\" and \"being scientific and rigorous, acting in accordance with laws and regulations, seeking truth from facts, and focusing on practical results\", carefully organize the investigation of each construction accident. It is necessary to strictly implement the system of supervising accident investigations through designated oversight. Local safety committees must oversee and verify the progress of construction accident investigations and resolutions carried out at the lower levels; for those typical accidents that are particularly serious in nature and have significant impacts, higher-level investigations should be conducted. Responsibility must be pursued strictly in accordance with laws and regulations; enterprises that violate these rules and their relevant responsible persons must be severely punished, and the results of such investigations should be made public in a timely manner to serve as a deterrent and a warning. At the same time, it is necessary to step up supervision and inspection of the implementation of corrective measures for major and severe accidents, urge relevant local authorities, departments, and enterprises to draw serious lessons from these accidents, apply those lessons to similar situations, further strengthen safety management and oversight in construction projects, and truly use these lessons to improve work safety. Fifth, it is essential to ensure the effective implementation of safety measures at the end of the year and the beginning of the new one. This period has always been a critical time for work related to safety production. All regions, relevant departments, and organizations must carefully assess the safety situation, pay attention to weak points and prominent issues, and fully comply with the requirements set out in the notice issued by the Office of the State Council’s Safety Committee titled “On Carrying Out Thorough Safety Inspections to Strengthen Safety Production at the End of the Year and the Beginning of the New One” (Safety Committee Office Circular [2016] No. 13). Further efforts should be made to conduct thorough safety inspections in key industries such as construction, mining, transportation, hazardous chemicals, fireworks and firecrackers, oil and gas pipelines, metallurgical gas use, dust-related operations, “three-in-one” facilities, and crowded places. It is necessary to ensure that risk management takes precedence over potential hazards, and that hazard identification and mitigation come before accidents occur. This will help improve the ability to manage risks and prevent accidents, thereby preventing and curbing all types of serious and major accidents. Office of the State Council Safety Committee, November 24, 2016