The website of the State Administration of Work Safety reprinted the full text of a follow-up article by a reporter from the China Production Safety News, which reads as follows:
Crossing three provinces and four places, traveling thousands of kilometers, climbing to the top of the dozens of meters-high dimethyl ether storage tanks, and entering the pungent chlorine filling site, we saw a scene of perilous production, and found an alarming number of hidden dangers. ......
June 9 to 12, coinciding with the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, as one of the first batch of three unannounced inspections dispatched by the State Administration of Safety Supervision, the chemical industry unannounced inspection team led by Wang Haoshui, director of the Third Department of Supervision of the General Administration of Safety Supervision, unannounced inspections of 11 hazardous chemical enterprises involving chlorine, ammonia, poor safety production conditions, and accidents, and unearthed 65 hidden dangers.
The reporter followed up the interview with the unannounced inspection team, witnessed the most real production scene of the hazardous chemical enterprises, and recorded the unannounced inspection team personnel gave up their vacations and stuck to the front line of the work status.
Emergency notification, inspection trip completely confidential
Ban Hongsheng, director of the safety and technology department of Hebei Cangzhou Dahua Joint Stock Company, and Xie Xueqiang, safety director of Hebei Shenghua Chemical Co. They didn't know where they were going to inspect, and even personnel from the General Administration of Safety Supervision couldn't determine exactly which companies to inspect.
At 8:30 p.m. on June 9, Ban Hongsheng showed up at the agreed-upon meeting place on time. The director of the safety and technology department of Hebei Cangzhou Dahua Joint Stock Company is one of the experts invited by the General Administration of Chemical Industry's undercover inspection team. "I was only notified yesterday evening (June 8) and hurriedly bought the last train ticket and rushed over overnight." He has red eyes after sleeping for just over three hours during the night.
Not only Ban Hongsheng, other members of the undercover team were suddenly notified in an unprepared situation. Afraid of missing the assembly time, another invited expert, Xie Xueqiang, safety director of Hebei Shenghua Chemical Co, drove from Zhangjiakou to Beijing at 5 p.m. on the 9th.
"Where are we going, and which companies are we checking?" Upon meeting, people coincidentally asked each other, but no one could give a definite answer. The itinerary is completely confidential.
After the personnel arrived, the head of the undercover team -- Wang Haoshui, director of the General Administration's Third Department of Supervision -- held a brief meeting. However, the questions in everyone's mind have not been answered, where exactly to go is still a question mark, but it is Wang Haoshui repeatedly emphasized the inspection discipline, so that everyone perceived the unusual nature of this inspection. "In accordance with the requirements of the party group of the General Administration, this inspection without notice, without greeting, without listening to reports, directly into the scene, the purpose is to check the hidden problems, find problems. Therefore, no matter whether the enterprises going there are familiar to all of you, please don't inform the news, this is discipline." Wang Haoshui said seriously.
At 9 o'clock sharp, the unannounced inspection team drove off.
"Run to Hengshui first." Once on board, Wang Haoshui only told the driver in general terms the general direction. Sun Guangyu, a member of the team and deputy director of the Third Department of Supervision, took out his prepared tablet computer to find the route and work on the spot.
On the way, except for the occasional exploration of the route to Hengshui, everyone was silent, with only the crackling sound of rainwater on the windows. About the real destination remains unknown.
In the days that followed, again until the last minute, the experts and journalists who accompanied them did not know exactly where to check.
Sun Guangyu had a list of companies prepared in advance in his hands, but it was not the final inspection list. Every place, Wang Haoshui randomly selected enterprises from the list, and then through the navigation equipment to find the specific location of the enterprise, drive straight to the production site. Later, they simply do not even use the list, the car drove to where, where to check, see the equipment is old, small-scale enterprises, they immediately stop to check.
Site management, too many places for people to worry about
An unannounced inspection team in four days, running nearly 1500 kilometers, unannounced inspection of 11 enterprises, found a large number of problems, the phenomenon of chaotic site management of almost every enterprise. In the eyes of the experts of the undercover team, many loopholes are fatal.
Four days, running to Hengshui, going to Liaocheng, to Puyang, and then back to Zhaoxian (located in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province), the unannounced inspection team traveled nearly 1,500 kilometers, unannounced inspection of 11 enterprises. The unannounced visit of the team, so that many companies caught off guard, too late to give the scene of the problems and hidden dangers of "grease".
Located in Hengshui City, Hebei Jieheng Road, Hebei Jieheng Chemical Co., Ltd. is the first stop of the team of unannounced inspections. 9 around 15:00, through the GPS navigation, the team quickly found the production site of the enterprise.
What we did not expect is that the company's website, claiming that "strong technical force, advanced production equipment, complete testing methods" in the field of chlorine disinfectants "is the only legal supplier in the U.S. market" of the company, was easily Liquid chlorine storage tanks and liquid chlorine filling sites adjacent to each other, fire operations are not carried out combustible gas analysis, fire monitoring personnel from the fire site and more than 10 major hidden problems. What is even more terrible is that this so-called "high-tech enterprises", the site of the use of combustible gas alarm system of 5 tables, 3 are due to malfunctioning false alarms. Whether it is the safety management personnel, workshop managers, or process technicians, no one found, and no one can tell the meaning of the readings in the table. In charge of the lifeblood of the enterprise's safety of combustible gas alarm system, so become a deaf ear.
Jiheng Chemical is not an isolated case. In a subsequent spot check, the team found that the site management of the phenomenon of confusion exists in almost every enterprise.
Longyu Chemical Co., Ltd. located on the west side of the Yellow River in Hualong District, Puyang City, mainly produces methanol, and is a second-grade standardized safety production enterprise. In the eyes of the layman, this Henan Yong Coal Group's subordinate enterprises have a bright appearance, the size of the storage tanks and the advanced degree of the device is the neighboring small and medium-sized enterprises can not reach. However, in the eyes of the experts of the secret investigation team, its on-site management loopholes are fatal.
Just entered the dimethyl ether storage tank site, Wang Haoshui at a glance to see that the safety valve of the storage tank has a problem: "Why is the safety valve emptied without access to the torch, why is it directly discharged to the atmosphere?" "We have a specialized pressure switch to access the torch, and emergency venting device." The person in charge of the Safety and Environment Department looked confident and repeatedly emphasized the advanced nature of its equipment. "That's no substitute for a safety valve! What we have to consider now is what to do if the emergency venting device fails?" Wang Haoshui sternly refuted.
It turns out that the Bhopal, India, accident, which occurred in 1984, had been caused by the failure of the emergency venting device to open causing the rapid spread of toxic gases, which triggered the serious consequences of more than 3,500 deaths. In reflecting on the accident, it was realized that "Union Carbide was so arrogant in its management of the highly toxic gas that it never really worried about the range of problems it could cause." "Learn the lessons of the Bhopal accident well!" It was a phrase that Wang Haoshui said several times in a row.
Puyang Fuli Chemical Co., Ltd. not far from Longyu Chemical, also let people fall down. No factory name, no guards, a boss look like a man claiming to be a driver, a crook look like a man claiming to be a safety officer. The site is filled with pungent chlorine odor, chlorine storage tanks, regardless of empty cans real cans randomly stacked, tanks and production area spacing less than 5 meters, the only one used to monitor the concentration of liquid chlorine computer covered with dust, the computer keyboard on the thick dust so that people do not recognize traces of being used. Everything in front of us makes it hard to connect with the pictures of the site posted on the company's website and the advertisement of "having passed the ISO9001 international system certification".
In the Guyun Economic and Technological Development Zone in Liaocheng, Xin County, Xin County Huaxiang Salt Chemical Co., Ltd. can be said to be the "freest" company in the inspection. Door guards for the arrival of the unofficial inspection team did not listen to the unofficial inspection team personnel did not even show their documents, unimpeded access to the production site.
The freedom of entry and exit precisely reflects the chaos of management, and the ensuing scene also confirms this: in the control room, the roof leakage of rainwater constantly dripping on the computer used for security monitoring, monitoring personnel at any time may lead to the danger of a short circuit of the computer turn a blind eye; in the production site, the safety valves are seriously rusted and corroded, and there are traces of leakage all over the place, and the scene is almost impossible to find intact valves and flanges on the foot bolt, inspection and inspection of the valve, the valve and the flange. The flange on the foot bolt, the time marked on the inspection plate is more than 1 hour earlier than the actual time; tanks, liquid chlorine tanks, the outer protective layer of a large area off, tanks outside the level meter has long been turned into a pile of scrap, the scene can not be found to record the pressure, the temperature of the remote instrumentation; production workshop, for emergency in the five gas masks, there are four have been scrapped ... ... ...
"It's horrible, I don't know how this company survives." Faced with the scene in front of them, Xie Xueqiang, Ban Hongsheng two experts are incredulous.
Low-level errors have become a common problem for some companies
"There is not a single company that is reassuring." Along the way, this has almost become the mantra of the secret investigation team. Although before the departure, "must see the real situation, find out the problem" is the established goal, but the scene found that the problem is still much more serious than expected.
During the inspection of 11 enterprises, the undercover team***found 65 hidden dangers, most of which were widespread*** problems and even some intolerable low-level mistakes.
On the morning of the 10th, in the storage tank area of Oktek Chemical Group Company located in the North Street of Guandao, Gaotang County, Shandong Province, the bottom of the cofferdam which is nearly 2 meters high actually opened a hole about 50 centimeters high and wide, and a hose stretched out from the hole. "What is the cofferdam for?" The undercover team asked. The vice president in charge of safety said, "To prevent the material in the storage tank from leaking out." "Then what is the hole below for?" "Drainage." "In that case, how can the cofferdam with the hole opened prevent the material from leaking?" The vice president of the unannounced investigation team was stumped for a moment by the questioning.
Enterprises spend money to repair the cofferdam and self-destructive cofferdam practice makes people laugh. But did not expect, on the morning of the 11th, the bottom of the open hole cofferdam and appeared in the Puyang Hongye Biochemical Co.
On the ground within the cofferdam, Hongye biochemical specially chiseled a trapezoidal water channel, the end of the water channel at the bottom of the cofferdam hole. The company, which produces furfuryl alcohol by hydrogenating furfural, stores flammable and explosive products in its storage tanks. "You only consider the convenience of drainage, but has it ever occurred to you that once the tanks catch fire and explode, the materials with fire will flow out of the hole in large quantities, resulting in an uncontrollable fire." For the enterprise's approach, Wang Haoshui was very angry, "grasp the rectification, I am anxious for you!"
However, in addition to the cofferdam not closed, in this self-proclaimed world's largest furfuryl alcohol, furfural production base of the enterprise, the undercover team also found a number of its identity does not match the low-level errors. The enterprise site is being rebuilt, one side is under construction of furfural hydrogenation device; on the other side, a 5-story building has completed the main project, the two are less than 30 meters away from each other. No one thought that the enterprise would use this building as a dormitory for shift workers. "Absolutely not! Once the device explodes, the workers in the building will become living targets." Wang Haoshui nonchalantly pointed out the problem, "Either the device stops or the building is remodeled, only one of the two can remain."
Low-level mistakes also exist in other companies. In Xinxian Huaxiang Petrochemical Co., Ltd, the workshop director and deputy director of the production safety responsibility system is exactly the same, as a master's degree in chemical engineering, the general manager of the face of the question showed calm: "I do not know, I do not know anything about safety." Ltd. in Hebei Jiheng Lantian (Sairui) Chemical Co., Ltd., a number of safety training question papers with similar handwriting, and the same questions, the same answer, some question papers were deducted points, and some have scored full marks. Ltd., flammable methylamine and combustible butanediol were placed in the same tank area, adjacent to the factory gate and city roads, and fire operations should be 10 meters away from each other in the oxygen and acetylene bottles are next to each other. In Huaxiang Salt Chemical, hanging on the wall of the "lifting operations 10 do not hang" system, clearly written "ladle full of steel does not hang", but this enterprise simply can not have a ladle.
"The biggest hidden danger is to be with the hidden danger but blind, in danger but do not know where the danger is." A scene during the inspection made Xixueqiang and other experts y worried.
Given the seriousness of the problem, the undercover team issued on-the-spot orders to stop production and rectify the situation and delay the start of work for Okte Chemical, Huaxiang Salt Chemical, Fuli Chemical and Hongye Biochemistry, and asked the local government and the safety supervision department to follow up on the implementation.
Responding to the tragedy will not be repeated
This way, the inspection site are temporary decision, tablet PC, cell phone, car GPS has become the "compass" of the team of unannounced inspections. Sometimes, in order to find the specific location of the enterprise, the unannounced investigation team personnel can navigate all the equipment on, together with the driver to show the way.
Chemical inspection team to carry out inspections a few days during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, although not like most people enjoy the holiday, although non-stop running thousands of kilometers, although the meal is almost not on time, although early in the morning out of the house, late at night is still in the inspection, but no one shouted bitter and tired, as long as the scene, everyone is like a clockwork as in all kinds of hazardous chemical installations to climb up and drill down.
Check the beginning of the 2 days, the rain poured down, the temperature plummeted, we have a foot of water, a foot of mud, wet clothes dry, dry wet; and later 2 days, the rain cleared, the sun is in the sky, we do not have time to drink, can not take care of wiping the sweat, the clothes are still wet dry, dry wet.
21:00 on the 10th, just rushed to Puyang, not long after the secret investigation team again gathered, driving night investigation. The night of Puyang City is quiet, almost no pedestrians, but the moonlight and the secret investigation team along the way. However, we are quite pleased that the sampled enterprises - Henan Coal Chemical Zhongyuan Dahua Company, whether in the night shift, device inspection, or in the automation monitoring, site management, etc., have performed creditably. "This enterprise had a steady stream of accidents a few years ago, so I've been uneasy about it, but this night inspection made me change my mind about them." The undercover team only returned to their quarters at 2300 hours, and although they were exhausted, Zhongyuan Dahua's performance pleased Wang Haoshui.
This way, the inspection location are temporary decision, tablet computers, cell phones, car GPS has become the unannounced inspection team's "compass". Sometimes, in order to find the specific location of the enterprise, the unannounced inspection team personnel can navigate all the equipment on, together with the driver to show the way. However, in remote areas, the collective failure of advanced equipment also makes the team encountered lost embarrassment.
At about 18:00 on the 11th, the team arrived in Zhao County, Hebei Province. On February 28 last year, an explosion occurred in the guanidine nitrate workshop of Kerr Chemical Co. in Zhao County, killing 29 people and injuring 46 others. Kerr Chemical was then closed down according to the law. Wang Haoshui, Sun Guangyu and Ban Hongsheng were all involved in the investigation of the accident, but they were "a bit uneasy" about whether the company was closed down in place and whether it would secretly produce.
After entering Zhao County, the car accidentally drove into a narrow village road, and for a while, all the navigation equipment was unable to search for the vehicle's location. The muddy village road is bumpy, and obstacles appear on the road from time to time, the driver had to turn around and look for the way out again. After more than half an hour of moving around, ups and downs, the car was back on the road.
While searching through an electronic map and looking from memory, the team found what used to be Kerr Chemical after a lot of trouble. In addition to the two security guards at the gate, no one else could be found in the factory, and the severely damaged plant was in a state of disrepair, with used equipment piled up haphazardly in the open space, and the scene remained the same as it had been after the accident.
Before the accident, the company, which mainly produces pesticides and pharmaceutical intermediates, had annual profits of hundreds of millions of dollars and was a key project in Hebei province. Because of the staggering profits, the undercover team was worried that the enterprise was open in the dark. "This is the State Council's Safety Committee listed an accident, not to the scene to see, we do not rest assured." Personnel who had been involved in the investigation of the accident said.
In addition to Kerr Chemical, the undercover team also went to great lengths to find another enterprise that had been involved in an accident. On January 14 this year, an explosion occurred in the aqueous choline chloride workshop of Okert Chemical, which did not result in any deaths but led to injuries to a number of workers and damage to the surrounding residential houses. On-site inspection found that the choline chloride plant where the accident occurred has been shut down, but the personnel of the undercover team did not dare to take it lightly, and inspected it extraordinarily carefully. "I purposely went online last night to check the pictures of the accident at this enterprise and compare them with what we saw at the scene, just in case they were hiding something." Wang Haoshui said while dialing the phone number of an expert in choline chloride to consult about the production process.
On the way back to Beijing, the personnel of the undercover team still hadn't come out of their nervous working condition and kept discussing the problems found during the inspection. "The next step, we have to list the hidden dangers found, urge the local government to follow up and rectify the situation, to ensure that the hidden dangers are completely eliminated, and never tolerate any of them to continue to exist." This conversation between Wang Haoshui and Sun Guangyu was quietly recorded by a reporter.
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