China has promulgated new industrial safety regulations, with
all mines, construction firms and producers of hazardous chemicals,
fireworks and civilian explosives across the country required to
first obtain a "safe production license".
The Regulations on Licenses for Safe Production, adopted by the
State Council at its 34th executive meeting on Jan. 7, took effect
from Jan. 13.
The new regulations aim at promoting industrial safety in mines
and enterprises related to construction, hazardous chemicals,
fireworks and civilian explosives. "Those enterprises which fail to
meet the requirements for safe production that cannot get a license
are not allowed to continue with their production activities," the
regulations stipulate.
A "safe production license" has a three-year period of validity
and must be renewed three months before it expires.
To obtain licenses, enterprises must standardize their
operational procedures to ensure safe production, establish
administrative bodies to supervise production, provide necessary
education and training on safe production for their employees,
furnish workplace, infrastructures and equipment to meet safety
demands, and prepare emergency plans and rescue equipment.
According to the regulations, any enterprise that produces
without a license or in violation of the regulations will be
ordered to halt operation immediately, fined for 50,000 yuan
(US$6,045.9) to 100,000 yuan (US$12,091.9), and even subject to
criminal penalties if major accidents have occurred.
The Chinese government is making industrial safety a top
priority, which has turned out to be a major challenge for the
country in recent years.
Each year thousands of lives are claimed by mine accidents
across China, while two fireworks plant blasts sounded alarms for
the industry once again as the
Chinese lunar New Year is drawing near.
Nine were killed and five others injured in an explosion on
Jan.1, at a village factory in Liling City, one of the major
fireworks production bases in central China's Hunan
Province. Another fireworks factory explosion in northeast
China's Liaoning
Province on Dec. 30, 2003 killed 38 people and injured 33
others.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2004)