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Shanghai Drafts New Measures for Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals

Shanghai to revise the management of hazardous chemicals The supervision and other information to be digitalized Credit system for enterprises will be established

On April 29th, Shanghai government issued the draft revision of the Measures for Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals for public comment. The consultation period will end on May 28th.

The last version of the Measures was published in 2006 and this is the first time in 10 years the Measures have been revised. During the last 10 years, the national Work Safety Law and the Regulations on the Control Over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals (Decree 591) were both revised and the new implementation guidance of the Inventory of Hazardous Chemicals was released, each imposing new requirements on the management of the hazardous chemicals. Shanghai, as the second largest port in China and an important manufacturing base for the chemical industry will now assess the feasibility of implementing an updated administrative regime to modernize its supervisory and enforcement capacities.

ChemLinked reported in January that Shanghai started to centralize the manufacture and use of the hazardous chemicals in certain industrial areas to reduce risks and potential damage. This idea is emphasized again in the draft revision of the Measures. According to the draft, existing enterprises that manufacture and store hazardous chemicals will be moved into centralized industrial areas gradually. New construction projects related to hazardous chemicals should be built in these industrial areas except for gas stations and port construction projects. The centralized area will be evaluated for safety risks every 5 years and the total capacity of the area will be controlled.

Another relatively new measure taken is the digitalization of hazardous chemicals administrative record filing and supervision. A digital information and supervision platform will be established to gather the information on the manufacture, storage, sale, use, transport and disposal of the hazardous chemicals. It will make it easier for the supervisory authorities to dynamically regulate and individualize response to situations. The enterprises that store and use hazardous chemicals should adopt electronic labels for the chemicals so that the supervisory authorities have access to updated information and can dynamically organize and assess stored chemicals.

A Credit system for enterprises is another change that will make it more costly for the enterprises that violate the regulations. Every enterprise that violates the hazardous chemical regulations will be listed in the system and the system will be accessible to the public. If an enterprise is listed too many times, then it will be inspected and examined more frequently by the supervision authorities. Also these enterprises will be at a disadvantage when bidding for government purchases and other chemical industry projects. The production and storage accidents and any hazards/risks associated with hazardous chemicals that are concealed from supervisory authorities during inspection will also be recorded in the system. The enterprise’s hazardous chemical management record will directly affect the employment injury insurance rate of the enterprise. So the enterprise with poor management of hazardous chemicals will have to pay more for employees’ insurance.

Shanghai is one of the cities that have most normalized and skillful management of hazardous chemicals. This draft revision of the Measures is its latest answer to the fast changing challenges and the latest in its continuing efforts to prevent environmental damage and minimize the risks faced during handling of hazardous chemicals. It can be expected that other provinces and cities will learn and follow the example of Shanghai’s management of the hazardous chemicals.

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