On Aug 14th an urgent request for a national work safety inspection and hazchem management program was issued by the Work Safety Committee (WSC) of the State Council urging all member ministries to learn from the Tianjin explosions, help combat corruption and fulfill their responsibilities in future.
The WSC was established in 2003 under the under the leadership of the State Council, in a bid to deploy and coordinate the administrative and political resources to the task of work safety assurance. According to the Clarification on the Assignment of Responsibilities of the Work Safety Committee Members made public on Aug 27th, 2015, over 40 ministries, bureaus, social institutions and other organizations are involved in the integrated work safety management scheme. Some of them have announced respective work plans successively and will carry out intensive law enforcement activities until the end of Dec.
State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS)
Before the Tianjin explosions, SAWS decided to roll out a work safety program targeting pharmaceutical and hazardous chemical enterprises (see CL news 2015-08-06). Now the scope has obviously been expanded and the stringency of inspection and enforcement increased. All companies that produce, use, operate or store hazardous chemicals may be inspected in terms of plant site, licenses and certificates, hazardous installations, chemical labeling, emergency plan, safety information archiving, etc. Violation of relevant regulations will require immediate rectification, suspension of production or plant closure.
Ministry of Transport (MOT)
On Aug 24th, MOT issued Notice on Implementing and Strengthening Work Safety. Ports, container terminals, long-distance passenger transport, roadway transport of dangerous goods, railway transport, etc. are subject to enhanced supervision. Transport and storage of hazardous chemicals are required to be monitored in real-time with effective precautionary and emergency response systems.
Editor’s note: Passengers should be aware that dangerous goods are strictly prohibited in public transport. Consignors of dangerous goods should make sure the carriers hold relevant license(s), containers and packaging materials are qualified and properly labeled, and approvals have been acquired from public security administrations for road transport of highly toxic chemicals (see CL news 2014-09-12).
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ)
AQSIQ announced on Sep 2nd that special inspection will be carried out on license holders for production of hazardous chemicals and packaging materials and containers for hazardous chemicals, especially those who produce the following products:
Hazardous chemicals
Organic – Calcium carbide, industrial ethylene oxide, industrial trichloro ethylene, crude benzene, coking benzene, coking toluene, and industrial carbon disulfide
Inorganic - phosphorus compounds, nitrates, chlorates, peroxides, and other chemicals for fireworks and crackers
Compressed or liquefied gases – flammable gases, toxic gases
Coatings – nitro varnishes and paints, aluminum paste coatings
Petrochemicals – liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, gasoline, kerosene
Packaging materials and containers for hazardous chemicals
Tanks, metal/plastic drums, metal/plastic cans
Editor’s note: Hazchem manufacturers in China may be subject to both safe production licensing scheme under SAWS for work safety assurance, and industrial production licensing under AQSIQ for quality assurance.
In addition, AQSIQ or other local CIQ administrations and the Cutoms have not issued any new regulations regarding chemical labels. Stakeholders are adviced to strictly follow GB 15258-2009 and GB 30000 series standards to prepare labels. For other paperwork required for import/export commodity inspection, please refer to AQSIQ Announcement No.30 of 2012,.
