Govt aims to bring major work accidents to a 'dynamic zero'

Ministry wants significant identified hazards eliminated before end of 2024

The Work Safety Commission of the State Council, China's Cabinet, recently released a three-year plan that aims to achieve a "dynamic zero" of major accident hazards across the country.

Dynamic zero refers to the aim of achieving no hazards despite the risk of some unpreventable circumstances.

According to a news release from the Ministry of Emergency Management, the plan proposes that major accident hazards identified before this year should be eliminated by the end of this year, and any increase in major accident hazards should be curbed by the end of 2025.

By the end of 2026, a normalization mechanism will be formed to reach a dynamic zero-hazard level, the release said.

The plan outlines a series of measures across eight areas, including enhancing the judgment standard system for major accident hazards, the upgrading of technology support, conducting safety education and training for heads of business entities, and improving the safety awareness and capabilities of employees in business units.

The plan also urges local governments and business units to coordinate economic growth and safe production, establish and improve a full-chain responsibility system for investigating and rectifying major accident hazards in key industries, and significantly enhance safety supervision capabilities.

According to the plan, by the end of 2026, the frequent occurrence of major and serious production safety accidents will be effectively curbed.

The head of safety coordination at the Ministry of Emergency Management said the three-year plan is a strategic arrangement based on a comprehensive analysis of the current situation and production safety tasks.

The official noted that in recent years, the number of production safety accidents and fatalities in China has been declining annually. However, the production safety field still faces many unstable and uncertain factors.

Especially since last year, some regions and industrial sectors have experienced consecutive major and influential production safety accidents.

In November, there was a major gas explosion at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province.

The following month in Heilongjiang, there was an underground mine cart accident at another mine.

The combined accidents resulted in 23 deaths and 13 injuries.

Also last month, another explosion happened at a coal mine in Henan province, causing 16 deaths.

"The lessons from these accidents are very painful, requiring us to focus on the deep-seated contradictions and problems that constrain safe production," the official said.

According to the official, the plan provides targeted measures for investigating and rectifying major accident hazards.

Those include promoting enterprises to establish a normalization mechanism for self-examination and self-correction of major accident hazards.

Enterprise leaders are required to lead teams to conduct inspections at least once a quarter, and at least once a month in high-risk industries.

Personnel who fail to carry out investigations or fail to identify problems, or refuse to rectify issues after identifying them, resulting in the long-term existence of major accident hazards, will be held accountable.