Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Disposition of Work Safety Accidents

Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Disposition of Work Safety Accidents Order of the State Council (No.493) The Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Disposition of Production Safety Accidents were adopted at the 172nd Executive Meeting of the State Council on March 28, 2007, are hereby enacted, and shall be effective as of June 1, 2007. Premier Wen Jiabao April 9, 2007 Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Disposition of Work Safety Accidents Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 In order to regulate the reporting, investigation and disposition of production safety accidents, implement the system of investigating liabilities for production safety accidents, and prevent and reduce production safety accidents, these regulations have been made in accordance with the Law on Safe Production of the People's Republic of China and relevant laws. Article 2 These regulations shall apply to the reporting, investigation and disposition of the production safety accidents that have caused casualty or direct economic losses arising out of the production or business operation; these regulations shall not apply to the reporting, investigation and disposition of the environmental pollution accidents, nuclear facility accidents and accidents arising out of scientific research and production for national defense. Article 3 By the casualty or direct economic losses caused in a production safety accident (hereafter “accident”), the accidents shall be generally graded as follows: (a) Especially serious accident refers to an accident that has caused the deaths of at least 30 persons, serious injuries to at least 100 persons (including acute industrial poisoning), or direct economic losses of at least RMB 100 million yuan; (b) Serious accident refers to an accident that has caused the deaths of at least 10 but less than 30 persons, serious injuries to at least 50 but less than 100 persons, or direct economic losses of at least RMB 50 million yuan but less than RMB 100 million yuan; (c) Large accident refers to an accident that has caused the deaths of at least 3 but less than 10 persons, serious injuries to at least 10 but less than 50 persons, or direct economic losses of at least RMB 10 million yuan but less than RMB 50 million yuan; and (d) Ordinary accident refers to an accident that has caused the deaths of less than 3 persons, serious injuries to less than 10 persons, or direct economic losses of less than RMB 10 million yuan. The Administration of Work Safety of the State Council may make supplementary rules on the grading of accidents in conjunction with the relevant authorities of the State Council. The “at least” mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall include the number itself, and the “less than” shall not. Article 4 The accident reporting shall be timely, accurate and complete, and any entity or individual shall not delay, omit, falsify or conceal the reporting. The investigation and disposition of an accident shall observe the principle of seeking truth from facts and respect for science. The process of, causes for and damage by the accident shall be ascertained timely and accurately, the nature of the accident shall be clarified, the liability for the accident shall be determined, the lessons from the accident shall be summarized, the measures for rectification shall be proposed, and the liabilities of those liable for the accident shall be investigated according to law. Article 5 The people's governments at or above the county level shall strictly discharge their functions, and timely and accurately complete the investigation and disposition of accidents in accordance with these regulations. The relevant local people's government at the place of occurrence of an accident shall support and assist the superior people's government or relevant authorities in the investigation and disposition of accidents, and provide necessary conveniences. The authorities and entities participating in the investigation and disposition of an accident shall assist each other to improve the working efficiency of investigation and disposition. Article 6 The trade union shall participate in the investigation and disposition of accidents according to law, and shall have the right to offer opinions on disposition to the relevant authorities. Article 7 Any entity or individual shall not obstruct or interfere with the reporting and legal investigation and disposition of an accident. Article 8 Any entity or individual shall have the right to inform the work safety authority, supervisory authorities or other relevant authorities of any violation in the reporting, investigation and disposition of an accident, and the authorities receiving such information shall timely deal with it according to law. Chapter II Accident Reporting Article 9 After the occurrence of an accident, the relevant on-site personnel in the accident shall immediately report it to the person in charge of their entity; the person in charge of their entity shall report it to the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the people's government at or above the county level at the place of occurrence of the accident within 1 hour after receiving the report. In case of emergency, the relevant on-site personnel in the accident may directly report it to the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the people's government at or above the county level at the place of occurrence of the accident. Article 10 After receiving an accident report, the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the people's government shall report the accident to their superior authorities, and notify the public security organ, administrative authority on labor security, trade union and people's procuratorate, as required below: (a) An especially serious accident or serious accident shall be reported level by level to the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the State Council; (b) A large accident shall be reported level by level to the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government; and (c) An ordinary accident shall be reported to the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the people's government of a municipality with districts. While reporting an accident pursuant to the preceding paragraph, the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety shall report it to the people's government at the same level. The work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety of the people's government of the State Council and the provincial people's government after receiving a report of an especially serious or serious accident shall immediately report it to the State Council. When necessary, the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety may report the accident by bypassing the immediate level or levels. Article 11 Where the work safety authority and relevant authorities responsible for work safety report an accident level by level, the time for reporting at each level shall not exceed 2 hours. Article 12 An accident report shall include: (a) Introduction to the entity of occurrence of the accident; (b) Time and place of occurrence of the accident and information on the site of the accident; (c) Brief process of the accident; (d) Number of casualties or likely casualties (including the missing persons) and initial estimate of direct economic losses as a result of the accident; (e) Measures already taken; and (f) Other information that should be reported. Article......