Chapter II

Work Safety Guarantees from Production and Operation Entities

Article 20  Production and operation entities shall have the work safety conditions as specified by this Law and relevant laws, administrative regulations, and national standards or industry standards. Production and operation entities that do not have such conditions are not allowed to engage in production and operation.

Article 21  The principal person in charge of a production and operation entity has the following responsibilities for work safety within the entity:

(1) setting up, improving, and implementing the responsibility system covering all the staff in the entities and strengthening work safety standardization;

(2) making arrangements for formulating and implementing rules, regulations, and operating procedures for work safety in the entity;

(3) making arrangements for formulating and implementing plans for education and training on work safety in the entity;

(4) ensuring the effective implementation of work safety inputs in the entity;

(5) making arrangements for establishing and implementing the dual-prevention mechanism integrating tiered management and control for safety risks and identification and rectification for hazards, supervising and inspecting work safety in the entity, and eliminating hazards threatening work safety in a timely manner;

(6) making arrangements for formulating and implementing the entity’s emergency plans for accidents related to work safety; and

(7) submitting timely and truthful reports on accidents related to work safety to higher authorities.

Article 22  A responsibility system for work safety covering all the staff of a production and operation entity shall specify the responsible persons, the scope of responsibilities, assessment standards, and other elements.

A production and operation entity shall set up appropriate mechanisms and strengthen the supervision over and assessment of the implementation of the responsibility system covering all the staff, to ensure its proper implementation.

Article 23  Funds that are essential to meeting work safety conditions for production and operation entities shall be ensured by the decision-making bodies, principal persons in charge of the entities, or investors of individual operation entities, and these bodies and persons shall bear the responsibility for the consequences of insufficient funds essential to work safety.

Relevant production and operation entities shall withdraw and use funds for work safety in accordance with relevant provisions, and such funds shall be dedicated to improving work safety conditions. The expenses for work safety shall truthfully be incorporated into the record of cost. The specific measures for withdrawal, use, supervision and management of work safety funds shall be formulated by the financial department under the State Council in conjunction with the emergency management department under the State Council after soliciting opinions from relevant departments under the State Council.

Article 24  Mines, entities for metal smelting, construction and transportation as well as the entities for manufacturing, operating or storing, and loading or unloading dangerous articles shall set up dedicated organizations or appoint full-time persons for the management of work safety.

A production and operation entity that does not fall into the specified categories in the preceding paragraph shall set up a dedicated organization or appoint full-time persons for work safety management if the number of employees exceeds 100, and shall appoint full-time or part-time persons for work safety management if the number of employees does not exceed 100.

Article 25  The dedicated organization and persons for work safety management in a production and operation entity shall perform the following duties:

(1) organizing or participating in drafting the entity's rules, regulations, and operating procedures for work safety, as well as the entity’s emergency rescue plan for accidents related to work safety;

(2) organizing or participating in the work safety education and training in the entity, and making truthful records of the education and training on work safety;

(3) organizing hazard identification and assessment, and supervising the implementation of measures over safety management of major hazards in the entity;

(4) organizing or participating in the emergency rescue drill in the entity;

(5) checking the work safety situation of the entity, screening hazards that may cause accidents related to work safety in a timely manner, and coming up with proposals on improving work safety management;

(6) stopping and correcting the directions contrary to the rules or regulations, arbitrary orders for risky operations or behaviors contrary to operating procedures; and

(7) supervising the implementation of the entity's rectification measures for work safety.

A production and operation entity can designate a full-time person in charge of work safety, who assists the principal person in charge of the entity to perform work safety management duty.

Article 26  The dedicated organization and persons for work safety management in a production and operation entity shall fulfill due obligations and perform their responsibilities in accordance with the law.

A production and operation entity shall solicit the opinions from the organization and persons for work safety management in making business decisions involving work safety.

A production and operation entity shall not reduce the salary, welfare or any other benefits of, or terminate the labor contract with, a person for work safety management due to the person's performance of responsibilities in accordance with the law.

The appointment or removal of a person for work safety management in an entity for manufacturing or storing dangerous articles, or a mine or metal smelting entity shall be notified to the competent department in charge of work safety supervision and control.

Article 27  The principal persons-in-charge and work safety management personnel of production and operation entities shall have work safety knowledge and management competence that are commensurate with the production and operation activities of these entities.

The principal persons-in-charge and work safety management personnel of entities that manufacture, operate, store, load or unload dangerous articles, mines, and entities for metal smelting, construction and transportation shall pass the examinations for their work safety knowledge and their management competence conducted by the competent departments in charge of work safety supervision and control. No fees shall be charged for taking such examinations.

The entities that manufacture, store, load or unload dangerous articles, mines, and entities for metal smelting shall employ certified safety engineers for work safety management. Other production and operation entities are encouraged to hire certified safety engineers to engage in work safety management. Certified safety engineers shall be managed under classification by professions, and specific measures shall be formulated by the department for human resources and social security under the State Council and the emergency management department under the State Council in conjunction with relevant departments under the State Council.

Article 28  Production and operation entities shall provide their employees with work safety education and training to ensure that employees acquire necessary work safety knowledge, are familiar with the relevant rules and regulations for work safety and operating procedures, master the skills for safe operation in their posts, understand the emergency handling measures for accidents and are aware of their rights and obligations in respect of work safety. No employees who fail to be qualified after receiving education and training in work safety training can be assigned to posts for work.

A production or business entity with dispatched workers shall put the dispatched workers under the unified management of the employees of the entity and provide the dispatched workers with education and training in safety-oriented operating procedures and operating skills for their posts. An entity dispatching workers shall provide the dispatched workers with the necessary education and work safety training.

Production and operation entities that accept students from secondary vocational schools or institutions of higher education for internship shall provide such students with appropriate education and work safety training and necessary labor protection products. Such schools and institutions shall assist production and operation entities in providing the students with education and work safety training.

Production and operation entities shall set up files for education and work safety training and truthfully record the time, content, participants, and assessment results, etc. of the work safety education and training.

Article 29  For the use of new techniques, technologies, materials or equipment, production and operation entities shall learn and master their safety related technical features and adopt effective protective measures for safety, and the entities shall provide their employees with specific education and work safety training.

Article 30  The special operation personnel in production and operation entities shall, in accordance with relevant state regulations, receive special training in safe operation, and they shall only be assigned to such posts after obtaining the appropriate qualification.

The scope of special operation personnel shall be determined by the emergency management department under the State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments under the State Council.

Article 31  Safety facilities for construction projects, including new construction, renovation, and expansion projects, of production and operation entities (hereinafter referred to as construction projects) shall be designed, erected, and put into operation and use simultaneously with the principal parts of the projects. Investments into safety facilities shall be included in the budgetary estimates of the construction projects.

Article 32  Construction projects for mines and metal smelting, as well as construction projects for the manufacture, storage, loading or unloading of dangerous articles, shall undergo safety assessment according to the relevant state regulations.

Article 33  The designers and designing entities for safety facilities of construction projects shall be responsible for the design of safety facilities.

The designs of the safety facilities of construction projects for mines and metal smelting and construction projects for the manufacture, storage, loading and unloading of dangerous articles shall, in accordance with relevant state regulations, be submitted to relevant departments for examination. The examination departments and the persons in charge of the examination shall be responsible for the results of the examination.

Article 34  Construction entities for projects of mines or metal smelting and the projects for the manufacture, storage, loading and unloading of dangerous articles shall erect the safety facilities according to the approved design of the facilities and shall be responsible for the engineering quality of the facilities.

Before the completed construction projects for mining and metal smelting, and the manufacture, storage, loading and unloading of dangerous articles are put into operation or use, the construction entities shall be responsible for organizing the acceptance check of the safety facilities; the said projects shall only be put into operation or use after the safety facilities are checked and accepted. The departments in charge of work safety supervision and administration shall strengthen the supervision and verification of the activities and results of checking and acceptance conducted by entities of construction.

Article 35  Production and operation entities shall affix conspicuous safety precaution signs at production and operation places, facilities, and equipment where factors of relatively grave danger exist.

Article 36  Safety equipment shall be designed, manufactured, installed, used, tested, maintained, renovated and scrapped in compliance with the national standards or industry standards.

Production and operation entities shall have their safety equipment constantly maintained, serviced and regularly tested in order to ensure its normal operation. Records for maintenance, services and tests shall be kept and signed by the persons concerned.

Production and operation entities must not shut down or destroy the surveillance, warning, protection and life-saving equipment and facilities that directly affect safety, or distort, conceal or destroy data and information from the equipment and facilities.

Production and operation entities that use flammable gas in catering and other industries must install flammable gas alarming facilities and ensure their normal functioning.

Article 37  Containers and conveyances for dangerous articles as well as special equipment for offshore oil exploitation and underground mining that may influence the safety of people's lives and is of great danger, as used by production and operation entities, shall be made by professional manufacturers in accordance with relevant state regulations, and they shall only be put into use after passing the test and check by professionally qualified testing and checking institutions, and after safe use certificates or safety tags are issued. The said institutions for test and check shall be responsible for the test and check results.

Article 38  The state applies an elimination system for the techniques and equipment that present a serious threat to work safety. A specific catalog shall be formulated and promulgated by the emergency management department under the State Council in conjunction with relevant departments under the State Council. Where the formulation of the catalog is otherwise provided for in laws or administrative regulations, such laws, or administrative regulations shall prevail.

The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government may, in light of the actual situation of their respective regions, formulate and promulgate specific catalogs to eliminate the techniques or equipment that present threat to work safety other than those prescribed in the preceding paragraph.

No production and operation entity may use techniques and equipment threatening work safety which ought to be eliminated.

Article 39  Where dangerous articles are to be manufactured, marketed, transported, stored, used or where abandoned dangerous articles are to be disposed of, the matter shall be submitted to the competent department for approval in accordance with the provisions in relevant laws and regulations as well as the national standards or industry standards and shall be subject to its supervision and control.

To manufacture, operate, transport, store or use dangerous articles, or to dispose of abandoned dangerous articles, production and operation entities shall abide by relevant laws and regulations, as well as the national standards or industry standards, establish a specific safety management system, adopt reliable safety measures, and subject themselves to the supervision and control by competent departments in accordance with the law.

Article 40  Production and operation entities shall have the sources of major hazards recorded and filed, conduct regular tests, assessments, and monitoring, make emergency plans, and notify the employees and related persons of the measures to be taken in case of emergency.

Production and operation entities shall, in accordance with relevant state regulations, report to the emergency management departments of the local people's governments and other departments concerned on the sources of major hazards, relevant safety and emergency response measures for the record. The emergency management departments and other relevant departments of local people's governments shall share such information through the relevant information system.

Article 41  Production and operation entities shall develop a tiered safety risk management system, and take respective management and control measures according to the levels of safety risks.

Production and operation entities shall establish, improve and implement the hazard screening and rectification system for accidents related to work safety and take technical and managerial measures for discovering and eliminating accident hazards in a timely manner. The information on the identification and rectification of accident hazards shall be truthfully recorded and notified to employees via the general assembly of employees, the general assembly of employee representatives or information bulletins. The information on the identification and rectification of major accident hazards shall be reported to departments in charge of work safety supervision and control, the general assembly of employees, or the general assembly of employee representatives in a timely manner.

The departments in charge of work safety supervision and administration of the local people's governments at or above the county level shall include major accident hazards in the relevant information system, establish and improve the system for supervising the rectification of major accident hazards and urge production and operation entities to eliminate major accident hazards.

Article 42  No workshops, stores, or warehouses where dangerous articles are manufactured, operated, stored, or used may share the same building with the employees' living quarters; a safety distance shall be kept between the two.

In manufacturing and operating places and the living quarters of employees, there shall be exits or evacuation routes that meet the requirements for emergency evacuation and are indicated clearly and kept unobstructed. The said exits or evacuation routes may not be occupied, locked, or blocked.

Article 43  When carrying out blasting or hoisting, using open fire, temporarily using electricity, or doing other dangerous operations specified by the emergency management department under the State Council in conjunction with relevant departments under the State Council, production and operation entities shall designate specific persons to sites for safety management and ensure that correct operating procedures are followed and safety measures are implemented.

Article 44  Production and operation entities shall educate and urge their employees to strictly abide by rules and regulations for work safety and operating procedures formulated by the entities, and truthfully inform the employees of hazardous factors existing at the workplaces and their work posts as well as the precautions and the emergency response measures to be taken in the event of accidents.

Production and operation entities shall pay attention to the physical and psychological status and behavioral patterns of employees, strengthen psychological counseling and spiritual comfort, make employees strictly fulfill work safety responsibilities in their posts, and prevent accidents from arising out of abnormal behaviors of employees.

Article 45  Production and operation entities shall provide their employees with labor protection products that are up to national standards or industry standards, and they shall supervise and instruct employees to wear and use the protection in accordance with usage rules.

Article 46  Work safety management personnel of production and operation entities shall, in light of the production and operation characteristics of the entities, carry out routine inspections of work safety. They shall immediately handle the problems discovered in the course of the inspection. Where they cannot do so, they shall immediately report the matter to the relevant responsible persons of the entities who shall handle the problems in a timely manner. The inspection and the handling of the problems shall be truthfully recorded.                                                                                                               

Work safety management personnel of production and operation entities shall, when discovering major accident hazards during the inspection, make a report to the relevant responsible persons of the entities in accordance with the preceding paragraph. Where the responsible persons fail to handle the hazards in a timely manner, they may report to the competent departments in charge of work safety supervision and administration and the departments receiving the reports shall handle the hazards in a timely manner in accordance with the law.

Article 47  Production and operation entities shall arrange funds for the provision of labor protection products and work safety training.

Article 48  Where two or more production and operation entities conduct production and operation activities in the same workplace, which may endanger the work safety of the other party, they shall sign an agreement on work safety management, in which the responsibilities of each party for work safety management and the safety measures to be taken by each party shall be made explicit. In addition, each party shall assign full-time work safety management personnel to conduct safety inspections and coordination.

Article 49  No production or operation entities may contract out or lease production, or operation projects, workplaces or equipment to any entities or individuals that do not possess the work safety conditions or the corresponding qualifications.

A production and operation entity that contracts out or leases production or business projects or workplaces to any other entity shall conclude a special agreement on work safety management with the contractor or lessee or specify their respective responsibilities for work safety management in the work contract or lease contract. The production and operation entity shall carry out unified coordination and management of the work safety of the contractor or lessee, conduct regular safety inspections and supervise the immediate rectification of any safety problem discovered in a timely manner.

Construction entities that undertake construction projects of mines or metal smelting, and those that undertake construction projects of production, storage, loading and unloading of dangerous articles shall strengthen the safety management of construction projects, and they shall not illegally transfer construction qualifications through selling, leasing, lending, affiliating, and other forms. They shall not re-contract all the contracted construction projects to a third party or disassemble the contracted construction projects into different parts which are re-contracted to third parties respectively in the name of subcontracting, nor shall they subcontract the projects to entities that do not have the corresponding qualifications.

Article 50  When an accident related to work safety occurs in a production and operation entity, the principal persons in charge of the entity shall immediately make arrangements for a rescue operation; and, during the period of investigation and handling of the accident, the person may not leave his post without permission.

Article 51  Production and operation entities shall, in accordance with the law, contribute to work-related injury insurance and pay insurance premiums for their employees.

The state encourages production and operation entities to take part in work safety liability insurance. Production and operation entities in highly hazardous industries or sectors specified by the state shall take part in work safety liability insurance. The specific scope and implementation methods shall be determined by the emergency management department under the State Council in conjunction with the financial department, insurance supervision department, and other departments in charge of relevant industries under the State Council.