On August 5, 2020, the Office of the Work Safety Commission of the State Council and the Ministry of Emergency Management held a meeting, thoroughly learning the lesson from the Beirut blast (see ChemLinked news) and arranging for a nationwide campaign dedicated to storage safety of hazardous chemicals.
As a global chemical powerhouse, China is exposed to mounting safety risks associated with a large number of ports, warehouses, etc. which store hazardous chemicals and vehicles and ships carrying hazardous chemicals. The grievous losses Lebanon suffers in the Beirut blast is another huge wake-up call.
Thus, it was required at the meeting that, a nationwide campaign is going to be launched immediately to address storage safety of hazardous chemicals, with a particular focus placed on ports, docks, warehouses, chemical industrial parks, etc. Various authorities are assigned with different tasks considering their respective duties:
l Administrations of emergency management should urge businesses engaged in manufacture and operations of hazardous chemicals to implement measures such as cooling and ventilation, eradicate storage of excessive quantities of hazardous chemicals or varieties which are out of a given scope, as well as mixed storage of incompatibilities, and ensure relevant installations and facilities are intact and effective.
l Administrations of transport and customs at various levels ought to check all ports, storage spaces and docks which involve hazardous chemicals, and impose penalties on those with unqualified safety conditions, storage of excessive quantities of hazardous chemicals, etc. and require them to complete rectifications within a given period.
l Administrations of industry and information technology, public security and market regulation should, according to their respective responsibilities, punish or prosecute the acts of illegally manufacturing, storing or using civil explosives like ammonium nitrate, and put in place a system for the sale and purchase licensing and circulation information filing of such materials.
l Administrations of ecology and environment should intensively check the safety conditions of hazardous wastes and ensure the solid implementation of relevant safety measures.
l Local authorities should conduct a quantitative risk assessment of all storage facilitates of explosive materials, and organize experienced industry experts to provide on-site guidance and carry out covert or overt inspections.
It was emphasized at the meeting that, since previous experience shows that many rectification measures were often mothballed, follow-up examinations are necessary to ensure that relevant arrangements are put in place.
