Probing Safety Problems of China's Small and Medium Size Chemical Enterprises   

By Liu Yanping, Qu Funian, Chen Jiufang, Ren Dianzhong and Tian Min, the Chemicals Registration Center of the State Administration of Work Safety

I. The status quo and problems of small and medium chemical enterprises

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China has 27 091 petroleum and chemical enterprises as of the end of 2007, of which the number of small and medium enterprises has come up to 24 730, accounting for 90% of total number. Compared with large enterprises, small and medium enterprises in general have a poor capability for chemical work safety, showing in the follow common problems:  

1. Poor professional qualities of owners and/or managers

    (1) A considerable number of small and medium chemical enterprises, especially private enterprises or individuals, whose owners do not have a good education, lack both the necessary knowledge in chemical production and work experience and sufficient risk and safety awareness of the chemicals and production processes.
    (2) The managers and/or owners put more emphasis on production and economic return than safety, and they neglect security and violate laws and regulations from time to time. For example, some companies construct new projects without approval in advance, install new equipment without reporting, and do not obey the related national regulations for new construction projects, leading to more potential dangers that are difficult to eliminate through renovation and modification.  

2.  The work safety management systems and operation specifications are incomplete and full of loopholes

    (1) Although most companies have established a named safety management system and operation specification, the content of the management system is not specific and is difficult to comply with in actual operation. They do not establish a clear requirement on how to obey the system and specification. And the management system in some companies is a mere formality, which has not been strictly executed or obeyed by workers or operators.
    (2) In recent years, private and individual chemical enterprises have developed rapidly, highlighted by a number of small and medium chemical enterprises that have been constructed throughout the country. As they lack an industry supervision department and market access mechanisms, many of these enterprises are built without a formal building design and construction, resulting in the problems such as unreasonable production process, and unscientific and non-regulated production control and safety operation specification. For example, on June 12th, 2008 a hydrogen sulfide leak took place in the trial production process of arsenic removal from refined phosphoric acid production in a fertilizer company in Yunnan province, leading to 6 deaths and 29 others poisoned. It was found after the accident that the fertilizer company itself designed and installed the project through modifying existing equipment, and got it into trial production, without any approval and verification. There are serious flaws in the design.  
    (3) Because the production of fine chemicals only needs low investment in equipment but has high return, it has become the first choice for small and medium chemical enterprises to enter into. Fine chemicals can often be produced with only quick upgrading of equipment, small batches and intermittent production. Some fine chemical enterprises do not identify the possible risk factors in the production process and do not formulate strict safety operation rules, leading to increased accidents.

3.  Many problems in production equipment and facilities

    (1) In order to cut costs, some small and medium chemical enterprises neither conduct a feasibility study nor contract formal design organization, but instead directly hire unqualified personnel to carry out the installation of production equipment and facilities, resulting in the inherent shortage of production safety hardware. A number of enterprises with inadequate facilities and a low level of automation, remain in the stage of manual operation and control. In production, the operating parameters for feeding, outlet, temperature, pressure and flow still need to be manually set and operated, to a certain extent, which restricts the improvement of safety. For example, a fluoride reaction device of Jiangsu Chemical did not have a chain parking for over-temperature, and the framework was replaced by ordinary steel pipe, which should be supported by H-type steel, resulting in an explosion because the device ran too hot during trial production, killing 22 people, and most of them were crushed by the collapse of the framework.
    (2) A considerable number of small and medium chemical enterprises are state owned with a long history. These enterprises have a certain basis of management, but their technology is relatively backward, equipment is obsolescence, and they lack updated and scheduled maintenance. As a result, emitting, drip, leakage phenomena happen frequently in spot production, failure rate is higher, and operation is often unreliable. For example, a pipeline in a chemical plant should be replaced every five years in accordance with stipulations, but the plant had it run for eight years, as a result it aged and corroded seriously, often leaked and required patching. Under the strong request of workers, the managers finally prepared to idle production for replacement. Unluckily the pipeline cracked and exploded four hours before the idling schedule, killing five people and injuring three.  
    (3) In some chemical enterprises, special equipment including pressure vessels in service cannot be inspected and tested regularly on time, the safety facilities have not been checked and maintained safely, reliably and effectively, so they cannot be effective in an emergency. An explosion happened to the outlet pipeline of a compressor in a chemical company located in Shandong province, which resulted in nine people killed and one wounded. The cause of the accident was that the outlet pipeline was not strong enough, with a problem in welding. It is important to note that the company had not carried out the pre-trial pressure test before putting it into use.  

4  Workers have a poor education and lack safety awareness

    (1) During the urbanization of villages in China, a large number of farmers have left or are leaving their land and joining the workforce of chemical enterprises. According to statistics, the proportion of farmer workers has reached 35% in the total workforce in small and medium chemical enterprises. Most of the farmer workers have not been well educated, particularly in basic knowledge of chemistry and chemical production, and even have no experience and operational skills, and do not understand the physical and chemical properties in the use of raw and auxiliary materials, with a weak sense to security, lack of self-protection awareness and capability.  
    (2) Many enterprises do not pay much attention to safety training and education for employees, or trained workers in a manner suitable for proper operation. The safety awareness of employees does not meet the benchmark, leading to frequent violations. Workers cannot help themselves in distress, or help improperly each other or are unable to help. According to incomplete statistics of the State Administration of Work Safety, in the first half 2008, seven accidents due to improper treatment or lack of knowledge expanded casualties from the first seven people at