Sharing others’ accidents (fires) 9

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Should it be changed or not? It leads to tragedies. 1. Details of the accident: Jiacheng Lighter Factory in Longjiang Town, Huilei County, Jieyang City is a company that produces disposable gas lighters, operated by the Thai company Hongtai in Longjiang Town, Huilei County. On January 1, 2000, Thai Hongtai Company signed an agreement with the Enterprise Office of Longjiang Town to lease a three-story reinforced concrete factory building located in the Longyang Industrial Zone of Longjiang Town. The company moved in from Humen Town, Dongguan on January 15, and began operations on January 20. The factory building has a single-story floor area of 410 square meters; the first floor serves as a packaging workshop and warehouse, the second floor is used for offices and production workshops (with an area of 300 square meters), and the third floor is designated as staff dormitories. Without the approval of the foreign economic, safety and health authorities as well as the public security and fire departments, the factory began production after installing its equipment, and employed 103 workers (including 2 child laborers, girls aged 14 and 15). At 3:40 p.m. on March 28, 57 workers in the production workshop on the second floor were assembling lighters and testing them. The lighters on the workbenches exploded, and the combustible gases that resulted came into contact with the flames generated by the workers while checking and adjusting the lighters, causing a fire that ignited the lighters stacked on the benches and quickly spread, turning into a disaster. After the accident, the factory immediately called the police. The Huilai County Fire Brigade sent 3 fire trucks to the scene, and the local officials from Longgang Town worked hard to organize the firefighting efforts; the fire was brought under control at 4:40 a.m. The accident resulted in 17 deaths, 6 people injured, and direct property losses of 42,610 yuan. II. Cause analysis: Direct cause – According to investigations by the relevant authorities, the direct cause of the fire was the spontaneous explosion of a lighter on the workbench of Chen Simei, a worker in the assembly workshop on the second floor of the factory. The flammable gases released as a result of this explosion came into contact with the open flame generated by the worker while testing and adjusting the lighter, which caused ignition. This led to the flames spreading to the lighters stored on the workbench, resulting in the outbreak of the fire. Indirect cause: Over the two months since its operation began, the factory has ignored relevant laws and regulations, prioritizing profit over safety. First, enterprises seriously violate laws, regulations, and rules regarding work safety. Jiacheng Lighter Factory is a typical example of a facility that combines production areas, warehouses, and dormitories in the same building, and it also falls under the category of those lacking three essential things: no approval procedures required for foreign-funded enterprises, no business license, and no inspection or approval from fire safety authorities. The first floor of the factory serves as a warehouse, the second floor as a production workshop, and the third floor as employee dormitories. There are no fire protection facilities or fire compartments within the factory; there is only one passage in the entire building. The windows on the second and third floors have all been sealed with rebar, the doors to the production workshop open inward, and the layout of the production lines is unreasonable – all of which pose serious fire hazards. On February 29, 2000, upon receiving reports from the public, the fire department conducted a fire safety inspection of the factory and sealed it down; however, the company did not cease production as a result, nor did it make any improvements to its production facilities ； Secondly, the town’s work safety management department fails to carry out effective supervision and management of work safety; it turns a blind eye to potential accident hazards and does not take decisive action to address them. Knowing full well that these enterprises lacked the necessary licenses and did not meet safety production standards, approval was still given for their operations. No concrete measures were taken to promptly rectify these issues and eliminate potential hazards in those typical \"three-in-one\" and \"three-no\" enterprises; instead, actions were limited to holding meetings and issuing documents, with no real effort being put into ensuring safety. Third, the relevant departments fail to enforce regulations strictly. The county fire department had sealed down the factory after identifying serious safety hazards there, but at the instigation of the factory and relevant officials, a fire safety license was issued without first organizing an inspection to verify that the factory had made the necessary improvements. III. Lessons from the accident 1. Producing in violation of the law will ultimately lead to punishment. In the early 1990s, Guangdong Province issued regulations banning the existence of enterprises that combined multiple functions in one facility, and carried out several rounds of regulatory actions to address this issue. Jiacheng Lighter Factory relocated and set up its operations under the intensified regulatory efforts in Dongguan. Lighter manufacturing companies are considered key fire hazard sites, and they should take better and more thorough safety precautions; otherwise, disasters are inevitable. Jiacheng Lighter Factory violated the laws and regulations regarding safe production by engaging in risky manufacturing practices; it not only ignored the safety of its workers but also put its own property at risk. The results were naturally not worth the effort. 2. Safety is for production; production must be safe. The bloody facts of the accident at Jiacheng Lighter Factory clearly show that a lack of production safety not only fails to bring any benefits to a company, but rather results in financial losses for the company, loss of life among employees, physical injuries, and suffering for their relatives. This serves as a reminder to managers that they must take this to heart and enhance their sense of urgency and responsibility regarding safe production. The development of an enterprise’s economy must be based on safe production, ensuring that safety management is in place, safety measures are implemented, and safety technologies meet the required standards. 　　3. The **relevant local authorities must act with integrity and diligence when conducting safety inspections. It is important to identify potential risks, and it is even more crucial to urge companies to make corrections. When faced with threats to the safety of people’s lives and property, we must never allow such threats to persist; we must not be blinded by greed, ignore our duties for the sake of money, or neglect our responsibilities out of considerations for others. 　　IV. Evaluation The original location of Jiacheng Lighter Factory was in Humen Town, Dongguan. As Dongguan began to enforce stricter regulations on lighter factories, it became difficult for this factory to survive there. In order to continue operating using this outdated model, the owner decided to set up a factory in Longjiang Town, Huilai County. To maximize profits, the factory started production without even meeting the basic requirements for safe operations – a typical example of prioritizing profit over safety. 　　This factory is a typical enterprise with \"three in one\" characteristics and lacking the three essential elements. The production conditions in the factory are poor, and safety measures are not adequate. Failing to implement even basic safety measures, the company not only violates the Fire Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Guangdong Province Labor Safety and Health Regulations, but also refuses to accept the corrective suggestions put forward by the fire authorities, remaining stubborn and acting as it pleases. Before the fire broke out, the fire department sealed down the facility, but the company did not stop production as a result, nor did it address the potential hazards; instead, it tried to influence the county fire department. This shows that the factory owner’s disregard for safe production has reached an extreme level. 　　Admittedly, as the industrial structure in the Pearl River Delta region undergoes adjustment, some high-risk industries will gradually move away. Economically less developed areas are the preferred targets for such enterprises, as land rents there are low and labor costs are inexpensive. This is a normal phenomenon of economic development. The key is that underdeveloped areas cannot simply take everything without any principles; even when introducing such technologies, great effort must be put into ensuring safe production. Human lives in these areas are also valuable, and accidents will still result in penalties and economic losses. In industries with high risks such as those involved in the production of lighters, relevant laws and regulations require a safety license system – production can only take place after obtaining a safety production license approved by the fire department. Jiacheng Lighter Factory thought it had entered an area with looser management, meaning there would be fewer restrictions, allowing them to produce and make money in peace, without the need for strict safety measures. That’s not the case at all; wherever production takes place, safety must be taken seriously. Companies like Jiacheng Lighter Factory, which involve high levels of risk, cannot afford to be careless in the slightest! It’s most beneficial to learn from others’ accidents as if they were one’s own.