Interpretation of the State Council’s Guidelines on Promoting Reform and Development in the Field of Work Safety

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On December 18, 2016, the full text of the \"Opinions of the Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting Reform and Development in the Field of Work Safety\" was released. As the first policy document on work safety issued in the name of the Central Committee and the State Council since the founding of New China, these Opinions emphasize the need to enforce a strict system for immediate reporting of accidents, and hold those organizations and individuals who conceal, misreport, fail to report, or delay reporting accidents accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. At the same time, the Guidelines recommend including illegal acts that are highly likely to lead to serious production safety accidents within the scope of criminal law regulation. 　　The trend of frequent safety accidents has not yet been brought under control. The ‘Opinions’ state that China is currently in a phase of continued industrialization and urbanization, with the scale of production and operations expanding constantly. Traditional and new forms of production and operation coexist, and various potential accident hazards and safety risks overlap with one another. Issues such as a weak foundation for safe production, imperfect regulatory systems and legal frameworks, and inadequate implementation of corporate responsibilities remain prominent. Safety accidents occur frequently, especially serious and major accidents, and their occurrence has not been effectively curbed. Some accidents are spreading from high-risk industries to other sectors, posing a direct threat to both production safety and public safety. 　　To this end, the Guidelines provide clear directions in various areas, including improving the implementation of work safety responsibility systems, reforming the safety supervision and inspection framework, promoting governance in accordance with the law, establishing safety prevention and control systems, and strengthening the development of basic safety support capabilities. 　　Those who fail to implement the corrective measures will be held accountable. The ‘Opinions’ emphasize that development must not come at the cost of safety; this is a red line that must not be crossed. It is also recommended that illegal acts that are highly likely to cause serious production safety accidents be brought under the scope of criminal law regulation. Implement a \"one-vote veto\" system for safe production and major risks related to safety accidents. Within one year after the accident is closed, the local authorities responsible for the investigation of the accident and the relevant departments of the State Council shall conduct evaluations; those who fail to fulfill their duties or fail to implement the required corrective measures will be held strictly accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. 　　According to the regulations, all regions and departments must, in light of the actual circumstances, promptly introduce specific policies and measures to advance reform and development in the field of work safety, while clarifying responsibilities, division of labor, and time schedules. The Office of the Central Leading Group on Comprehensively Deepening Reforms will take the lead in carrying out special supervision and inspections at an appropriate time. 　　Focus: Strictly investigate **activities** such as the exchange of power for money in the field of work safety. In the area of work safety, the main Party and government leaders are the primary responsible persons for their respective regions, while other members of the leadership team bear leadership responsibilities for work safety within their areas of responsibility. All regions and units should establish a system that links safety production performance with evaluations of job performance, promotions, as well as rewards and penalties, and strictly implement the \"one-vote veto\" system for safety production. 　　In accordance with the provisions of the Guidelines, serious actions will be taken to investigate and deal with acts of dereliction of duty, corruption, and bribery in project approval, administrative licensing, and supervision and law enforcement within the field of work safety. A strict system for immediate reporting of accidents is in place, and entities and individuals who conceal, misreport, fail to report, or delay reporting accidents will be held accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. Producers and operators who are held criminally liable shall be subject to corresponding professional bans in accordance with the law; social service agencies and individuals who bear significant responsibility for the occurrence of an accident shall be held strictly accountable under the law, with corresponding industry bans imposed as well. 　　As early as 2011, the **State Administration of Work Safety issued the \"Measures for Investigating and Handling Cases of Production and Business Entities Concealing or Falsely Reporting Accidents.\" These measures specify the criteria for identifying such acts of concealment or false reporting; for instance, concealing an accident that has already occurred and failing to report it to the work safety supervision authorities and relevant departments within the prescribed time limit, and if this is confirmed to be true, constitutes concealment of an accident ； Intentionally failing to report accurately information such as the time and place of the accident, its preliminary cause, nature, number of casualties and people at risk, as well as direct economic losses, constitutes false reporting. 　　Failure to comply with administrative law enforcement decisions can be enforced through legal means. A significant change proposed in the \"Opinions\" is to review and amend relevant provisions of the criminal law, so as to include those illegal acts that are likely to cause serious production safety accidents during the production and operation process within the scope regulated by the criminal law. 　　The Criminal Law Amendment (VI) adopted in 2006 included several provisions related to production safety. Article 134 of the revised Criminal Law stipulates that those who violate the regulations on safety management during production or operations, thereby causing serious casualties or other severe consequences, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention ； In cases of particularly serious circumstances, the penalty is fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years. 　　In terms of \"promoting governance in accordance with the law,\" a system for coordinating administrative law enforcement with criminal justice should be established. Departments responsible for supervising work safety must strengthen coordination with public security agencies, procuratorates, courts, and other entities, and improve mechanisms for reporting clues related to work safety violations, as well as for transferring cases and carrying out joint investigations. If the party responsible for the illegal act refuses to comply with the administrative enforcement decisions regarding work safety, the department tasked with overseeing work safety shall apply to the judicial authorities for compulsory enforcement in accordance with the law. Improve the mechanism for judicial authorities to participate in accident investigations, and strictly investigate and punish illegal and criminal acts. Research on establishing a civil and administrative public interest litigation system for work safety. 　　One year after the accident is closed, the relevant authorities are required to organize an assessment. In the future, even after an accident is resolved, the relevant authorities will take further action. 　　The Guidelines stipulate that a system for supervising the rectification of issues identified as a result of accidents should be established. Within one year after an accident is closed, the local authorities responsible for investigating the accident and the relevant departments of the State Council shall conduct evaluations and make the results public in a timely manner. Those entities or individuals who fail to fulfill their duties or fail to implement the required corrective measures will be held strictly accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. 　　Some places have already explored this area. The relevant regulations issued by Liaoning Province in September this year state that, within one year from the date when the accident investigation report is approved and the case is closed, the provincial work safety supervision agency shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, form an evaluation team to assess the implementation of the recommendations regarding accident handling as well as the corrective measures taken, and prepare an evaluation report to submit to the provincial authorities. 　　In addition, the Guidelines specify the need to establish a technical support system for accident investigation and analysis. All accident investigation reports must include separate sections addressing technical and management issues, with detailed analyses of the causes provided in full, along with explanations to address public concerns. For relevant laws, regulations, and standard systems identified as having gaps or deficiencies in accident investigations, initiate the process of formulating or revising them promptly. 　　In the supervision and enforcement of hazard identification, investigation, and rectification, enterprises that fail to properly address major hazards are subject to mandatory measures such as suspension of operations, cessation of construction, and seizure of assets in accordance with the law. They are also subjected to maximum-level financial penalties as stipulated, and those whose actions constitute crimes are referred to the judicial authorities for criminal prosecution. A strict system for supervising high-risk hazards is in place; those who fail to carry out proper rectifications or fail to fulfill their supervisory duties are brought under **review and held accountable. Measures such as interviews and warnings, as well as public exposure, are employed, and in serious cases, the relevant individuals are held responsible in accordance with laws and regulations. 　　Interpretation: Managing work safety also requires attention to occupational health. According to CCTV, the Central Committee and the State Council have recently put forward guidelines for advancing reforms in the field of work safety. Among other things, the «Opinions» emphasize that development must not come at the expense of safety – this is a red line that cannot be crossed. It establishes a work safety responsibility system that emphasizes shared responsibilities for the Party and government, dual responsibilities for each position, joint oversight, and accountability for failures to fulfill duties; it promotes reforms to the work safety supervision system, adhering to the principle that managing work safety also entails managing occupational health. 　　Statistics show that over 90% of accidents are caused by enterprises engaging in production, operation, and construction in violation of laws and regulations. These guidelines explicitly require enterprises to take full responsibility for their own work safety and occupational health, and to strictly fulfill their legal obligations in this regard. Experts say this imposes strong constraints on businesses. 　　Ling Wen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, pointed out that in over 90% of accidents, it is due to a failure to fulfill responsibilities. Therefore, this time safety production responsibilities have been defined as the primary responsibility of enterprises, and moreover as a legal obligation. This represents a significant shock and pressure for enterprise leaders, who must ensure that these responsibilities are fulfilled in every aspect and at every stage of the process. 　　In addition, the \"Opinions on Promoting Reform and Development in the Field of Work Safety\" recommend abolishing the work safety deposit system. It also calls for improving relevant regulations, expanding the scope of treatment for workers suffering from occupational diseases, including those who are disabled as a result of such diseases within the framework of social security. Furthermore, it proposes establishing an integrated supervision and enforcement system for work safety and occupational health. Those responsible for work safety must also be in charge of occupational health. Regarding this, experts say that occupational health is a relatively weak aspect in our current **work safety efforts. The reason for this is that we are focused on rapid economic development and allocate significant resources to accident prevention, but pay relatively less attention to occupational health. 　　Liu Tiemin, a researcher at the China Academy of Safety Science, pointed out that occupational diseases have one characteristic: they have a long incubation period. If no significant efforts are made to address this issue now, there will be considerable potential risks. Liu Tiemin said that the proposal in these guidelines states that those responsible for ensuring safety must also be in charge of occupational health. This is necessary to strictly control occupational hazards in enterprises; moreover, it is important to provide early treatment, early diagnosis, and prompt removal from dangerous work positions for workers who are exposed to such hazards, as this is very beneficial for protecting their health.