Bulletin of typical workplace accidents in Shanghai, March 2023

【资料图】

Overview

In March 2023, there were 24 fatal workplace accidents in Shanghai"s industrial, mining, commercial and trading sectors with 25 deaths.

Some Accidents in March

On March 3, at a residential apartment in No.651 Complex, Quyang Road, an operator from Shanghai Lixi Industrial Co. Ltd. was installing the outdoor unit of an air conditioner. The operator fell to the ground and died.

On March 5, at the Mingzhu Lake Pig Farm in Huaxi Village, Lvhua Town, a worker entered the sewage tunnel to dredge the sludge. The worker was poisoned by the sewage gas and died of suffocation.

On March 10, at an underground power distribution room of a new residential property project on Jiayinyuan Road, whose main contractor was Shanghai Yuanxun Construction Development Co. Ltd., an operator was installing a beam by standing on a scaffold tower. The operator was hit by the fallen beam, fell off the tower and died.

On March 13, at the Laogang Landfill Phase I Project’s landfill gas recycle system, two operators from Shanghai Zhaoxin Environment Protection New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. were replacing fillers in a desulfurization tower. The workers were poisoned by the gas in the tower and died of suffocation.

On March 20, at the decoration site of a hotel at No.3337, Hongmei Road, the operators were lifting a two wheeled barrow. During the process, the barrow flipped and fell, hitting an operator from the Shanghai Branch of Beijing Huadian Suyi Construction Engineering Co. Ltd. who was standing on a scaffold tower. The operator was swept onto the ground and died.

Workplace Accidents in Previous Marchs

“2021·3·25” Struck by Object Accident at No.439 Gongxiang Road

Summary of the accident：

At around 22:05, March 25, 2021, at a processing workshop of Shanghai Jingrui Jieshida Steel Material Processing Co. Ltd. at No.439 Gongxiang Road, Baoshan District, an operator was moving rolls of strip steel on a transfer trolley. The vehicle ran into a stack of completed strip steel rolls on the rail. The operator was hit by a fallen roll of steel on the trolley and died.

Direct cause：

The deceased operator was violating safety protocols because the steel rolls on the trolley had not been packed up as one unit and fixed onto the vehicle. When the trolley hit the steel stack on the rail, a fallen steel roll killed the operator.

Indirect cause：

(1) The operator was not paying attention to the surroundings ahead of the trolley during the transferring operation; did not stop the vehicle in time and ran into the steel roll stack on the rail.

(2) The operator had not packed up the rolls under transportation as one unit before taking off, creating safety hazards.

(3) The on-site management personnel was not strictly implementing the safety guidance, did not carry out daily safety checks, and did not promptly stop operators from working against safety protocols.

(4) The production manager, who is also the safety person-in-charge, did not manage workplace safety properly, did not thoroughly carry out safety patrols, did not take up the responsibility of identifying safety hazards and did not follow up on the removal of safety hazards.

(5) The company’s leader did not properly take up the safety responsibility, did not implement a system to identify and remove safety hazards in time.

(6) Shanghai Jingrui Jieshida Steel Material Processing Co. Ltd. did not shoulder its fair share of workplace safety responsibility, did not strictly manage its workplace safety, did not strictly implement regulations and rules, did not properly check and supervise its job site, and did not effectively remove safety hazards.

Punishment for the accident：

Baoshan District Emergency Management Bureau imposed administrative penalties upon Shanghai Jingrui Jieshida Steel Material Processing Co. Ltd. and its leader.

Recommendations：

(1) Shanghai Jingrui Jieshida Steel Material Processing Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Foluo Lunsi Clothing and Accessories Co. Ltd. (the leaser of the factory) should hold themed meetings to report the detailed information about this accident to their employees, sincerely learn from this accident, amplify the learnings, take actions to correct previous mistakes, and remove safety hazards so as to prevent future accidents.

(2) Shanghai Jingrui Jieshida Steel Material Processing Co. Ltd. should further take up its work safety responsibilities, enhance its safety management, improve the implementation of regulations and rules, intensify the safety checks and patrols at its job sites, strictly penalize behaviors violating safety protocols, and implement its internal system to identify safety hazards. The company should also implement safety education training programs which are customized to the company’s reality to raise its employees’ safety awareness and prevent unsafe behaviors at work.

(3) Shanghai Foluo Lunsi Clothing and Accessories Co. Ltd. should enhance its supervision over its tenants, urging them to strictly implement workplace safety regulations and policies.

(4) The local government authority should further enhance its supervision of local businesses and their job sites, urge them to take up their safety management responsibilities, and implement safety measures to ensure workplace safety.

“2022·3·5” Fall from Height Accident at N070501 Unit of 22-02 Land Lot Office/residential Project

Summary of the accident：

At around 12:25, March 5, 2022, at the N070501 unit of 22-02 land lot Office/residential Project, an operator fell to death while working on a formwork erection job.

Direct cause：

The deceased operator, Teng Kun, violated safety protocols by entering the danger zone and not wearing a safety belt. Teng fell off from the top surface of a 5.45 meter-tall steel pipe formwork and eventually died.

Indirect cause：

Hangzhou Banwang Construction Labor Service Co. Ltd. did not properly manage its job site safety, did not require its workers to correctly wear and use personal protective equipment as well as not supervise its workers to strictly follow the company’s internal safety regulations, rules and safety operation protocols. The company did not set up work safety facilities as required for jobs in the air, and did not hold safety education and training sessions for its workers.

The main contractor, Zhejiang Shunjie Construction Group Co., Ltd., had not thoroughly supervised its sub contractors’ safety management, did not check the quality of and approve the usage of the steel formwork set up by its sub-contractor as required, and did not supervise the timely removal of work safety hazards.

As the construction engineering supervisor of the project, Intertek Engineering Service Shanghai Limited did not strictly verify the work safety level of construction companies of the project, did not supervise the timely removal of work safety hazards by related companies, neither did it take any further supervising actions against repeatedly identified safety hazards.

Punishment for the accident：

Jinan District Emergency Management Bureau imposed administrative penalties upon Hangzhou Banwang Construction Labor Service Co. Ltd. and the people-in-charge of the project and job site, as well as Zhejiang Shunjie Construction Group Co., Ltd. and the person-in-charge of the project.

Jingan District Construction and Administration Commission imposed penalties upon Intertek Engineering Service Shanghai Limited and its person-in-charge of the project.

Recommendations：

All companies involved in this accident should learn from this fatal accident, thoroughly study “the Work Safety Law of the People"s Republic of China” and completely take up their work safety responsibilities.

(1) Hangzhou Banwang Construction Labor Service Co. Ltd. should enhance its work safety management at the job site, standardize its workers’ operations, completely train its workers on standard safety processes and safety operation skills, stop all behaviors against safety processes, and effectively protect the workers’ safety.

(2) Zhejiang Shunjie Construction Group Co., Ltd. should build the philosophy of “Safety First, Focus on Prevention, and Holistic Safety Management” across the company, effectively shoulder its safety management responsibility as a main contractor for a construction project, and effectively manage construction site safety issues.

(3) Intertek Engineering Service Shanghai Limited should strictly undertake construction site safety checks and patrols, urge companies to remove work safety hazards and effectively shoulder its job responsibility.

(4) As the developer, Shanghai Yunzhihe Enterprise Development Co. Ltd. should effectively enhance its safety management and supervision over contractors and should not evade its safety responsibilities. It should lead all involved parties to regularly undertake safety checks and patrols so as to form a system to ensure work safety.

Hazard warnings

➤Since the beginning of this year, there have been many fall from height accidents in our city, accounting for 40 percent of all fatal work safety accidents in Shanghai. Typical accidents are caused by jobs like high-rise building surface cleaning, outdoor units of air conditioner installations/removals, installation and dismantling of scaffoldings, constructions, decorations, property reparation, as well as installations of billboards, lighting, canopies, doors and windows. The main causes include not wearing personal protective equipment correctly, not properly installing fall prevention safety equipment (including leading edges and holes), and violating safety regulations.

➤Companies should enhance their safety trainings among workers to remind them that they must correctly wear safety belts and helmets, enhance their efforts to identify safety hazards at job sites, clearly mark hazards with signs and set up protective equipment or systems over leading edges and holes (cover plates, guardrails, and safety nets). For operations in the air, companies should implement safety measures such as operator trainings, safety readiness approvals, personal protective measure checks, job site measure checks and safety supervisions. Only when all these measures are in place should such jobs be approved to proceed.

end

▌来源：协作发展处（研究室）

关键词：