On September 29th, 2012, the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) has published on its website the “Interim Measures for the administration of occupational health safety permit for employers using toxic products” for public comments.
The “Measures” stipulated that the companies who use highly toxic products included in the “Inventory of Highly Toxic Products” will be governed by the regulation and the inventory is to be established by Ministry of Health (MoH), while the SAWS will be responsible of formulating the “List of applicable industries for occupational health safety permit”. The company shall apply with the SAWS for the occupational health safety permit by submitting the application forms and documents. The SAWS will review their submissions and site inspect the company to determine whether the company is compliant with hardware and legal requirements. The occupational health safety permit is regulated as a part of work safety permit, that is, a company can be exempted from being granted the occupational health safety permit if it has previously obtained the work safety permit.
The company shall meet series of requirement and provisions to obtain the occupational health safety permit. The infrastructure, production facility, technology and occupational-disease-prevention facilities shall be constructed and equipped in accordance with the “hygienic standards for the design of industrial enterprises” (GBZ 1) and “Hygienic engineering measures for preventing and controlling occupational poisoning in the work place” (GBZ/T194). It is also required that the companies to post warning mark and the warning message in Chinese in line with the “Warning Signs for Occupational Hazards in the Workplace” (GBZ158). Employees of the companies shall be informed of their toxic-contact situation according to the “Warning specification for occupational hazards of highly toxic substances in the workplace” (GBZ/T203).
The valid period for the occupational health safety permit will be three years, and the company shall apply for extension or alteration formalities if expiration, reconstruction or expansion occurred.
Public comments will be accepted until October 21st, 2012. Instructions for submitting comments are provided on the notice as well.
