On October 18th, a poisoning and suffocation accident occurred at Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. (“Bayi Iron and Steel”), resulting in the death of 4 people. It has been a month since the incident, and the Chinese Communist Party’s Emergency Management Department only released a notification on this matter on November 18th.
According to the announcement from the Chinese Communist Party’s Emergency Management Department on November 18th, recently, the State Council’s Office of the Work Safety Committee has notified various regions, relevant departments, and central enterprises about the “10·18” major poisoning and suffocation accident at Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel.
The accident took place in the oxygen production process of the energy and environmental protection department of Bayi Iron and Steel. The cause of the accident was due to the contracting unit, Xi’an Shaangu Power Co., Ltd. (“Xi’an Shaangu”), violating regulations by carrying out cleaning operations of the air compressor lubricant tank, resulting in the deaths of 4 people.
Bayi Iron and Steel is the only listed steel company in Xinjiang. According to Tianyancha, Bayi Iron and Steel was established in July 2000 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in August 2002, holding a leading position within the region.
The notification stated that the accident exposed three main issues: Bayi Iron and Steel’s lack of management over contracting units, handing over safety management responsibilities to contracting units, failure to conduct safety inspections at limited space operation sites, and lack of supervision over operation personnel within the factory area; non-standard limited space operations. Xi’an Shaangu did not implement safety protective measures such as ventilation, testing, and isolation in the risky operations.
According to the notification, prior to this incident, on January 8, 2023, Xi’an Shaangu, as a contracting unit, had also experienced a poisoning and suffocation accident while carrying out limited space operations at a metallurgical company, resulting in the death of 5 people.
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