Jiangsu Publishes Safety Risks Warning List for Chemical Enterprises

Jiangsu province will mandate all chemical enterprises operating within its jurisdiction to avoid unsafe chemical production behaviors outlined in a warning list (a checklist of 244 items). The new requirements come just 5 months after Jiangsu suffered the devastating Xiangshui explosion. Jiangsu is one of the most important chemical production bases in China, is home to 5000 chemical enterprises and contributed 2 trillion Yuan to Jiangsu’s economy in 2017. There is a strong possibility that if the warning list is implemented successfully these new requirements could be rolled out on a national level.

On August 12^th, 2019, Department of Emergency Management of Jiangsu Province published The Warning List of Safety Risks for Chemical (Hazardous Chemicals) Enterprises (abbreviate Warning List). Jiangsu published the Warning List based on the safe production problems found in the last two years and aims to guide chemical enterprises to conduct risk assessment and management, implement safe production, and prevent and resolve safety risks effectively.

There are in total 244 items included in the Warning List, among which 86 items are related to the employee behaviors, 102 items are related to the unsafe conditions of facilities and 56 items are related to management defects. For example, the warning list enumerates several check points related to combustible substances, e.g. if conducting operation of combustible gases between the lowest explosive limit (LEL) and the upper explosive limit (UEL), if lacking qualified alarm apparatus for detecting the leak of combustible and poisonous gas, etc. These problems are all pain points and difficulties in safe production. Unscientific management and insufficient prevention measures will result in severe accidents, such as the Xiangshui explosion which left more than one hundred people dead and injured in March this year.

Jiangsu’s economy has benefited a lot from the local chemical industry. Its chemical industry revenues surpassed 2 trillion Yuan in 2017, ranking the second in China. There are more than 5000 chemical enterprises, and many international chemical enterprises (e.g. TOTAL, Sherwin, etc.) have set their branch plants in Jiangsu. If this provincial requirement is successfully implemented it will provide a strong precedent for implementation on a national level.

In the wake of a serial of accidents in Jiangsu and across the nation, the local government has published many documents related to chemical industry, for example the Program of Jiangsu Province for Rectifying and Improving Safety and Environmental Regulation of Chemical Industry, and draft version of Environmental Accident Risk Assessment Guide for Industrial Park. In addition, Jiangsu planned to close hundreds of chemical enterprises by 2020 (CL News).

Chemical enterprises in Jiangsu should conduct self-checks on safe production according to the Warning List. The employees are required to be aware of the items for self-check listed in the Warning List. The items be supplemented based on enterprises’safety management practices.