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    Hebei Releases Safety Assessment Standards for Chemical Enterprises


    Release Date:

    2019-05-22

    Recently, the Hebei Provincial Work Safety Committee issued the “Hebei Province Safety Production Assessment Standards for Chemical Enterprises” and will use these standards to evaluate and identify the list of enterprises to be included in the “Four Batches” initiative under Hebei’s chemical industry rectification campaign. The 14 “non‑compliant” scenarios specified in the standards include: external safety protection distances for production units and storage facilities that fail to meet national standards; operating chemical installations that have not undergone formal design by a qualified design institute; hazardous chemical tank farms or storage areas lacking emergency shut‑off functionality and independent safety instrumented systems; and the failure to install fixed‑type combustible gas detectors in flammable, explosive, or toxic areas as required.

      Recently, the Hebei Provincial Work Safety Committee issued the “Hebei Province Safety Production Assessment Standards for Chemical Enterprises” and will use these standards to evaluate and identify the list of enterprises to be subject to the “four batches” of remediation measures in Hebei’s chemical industry.

      The Standard specifies 14 “non‑compliant” conditions, including: the external safety protection distances of production units and storage facilities do not meet national standards; in‑service chemical process units have not been designed by a qualified design institute; hazardous chemical tank farms lack emergency shut‑off functionality and are not equipped with an independent safety instrumented system; fixed combustible gas and toxic/harmful gas leak detection and alarm systems have not been installed in flammable, explosive, or toxic areas as required, nor are their alarm signals routed to the control room or operator’s station; temperature‑ and pressure‑overlimit detection instruments, audible‑visual alarms, and safety interlock devices have not been provided at locations on process equipment where fires or explosions could occur; hazardous chemical storage tank farms fail to install high‑ and low‑level tank level alarms as prescribed, nor do they employ automatic interlocks to close tank inlet valves at excessively high levels or to stop material transfer at excessively low levels; pipelines carrying highly toxic gases such as phosgene and chlorine, as well as hydrogen sulfide, traverse public areas outside the plant premises (including chemical parks and industrial parks). Any chemical enterprise found to be in any one of these 14 non‑compliant situations will be directly placed on the list of enterprises subject to closure and prohibition.

      Meanwhile, across the province, a 100-point safety assessment will be conducted on nine key areas: the layout and site planning of chemical enterprises, organizational structure, staffing and accountability, process and operational safety, equipment and facility safety, risk management and hazard identification, storage and packaging, workplace safety, and emergency management. Enterprises scoring below 60 points will be designated for “closure and prohibition”; those scoring between 60 and 80 points will be slated for “transformation and upgrading”; and those scoring 80 points or above will be categorized as “strengthening and optimizing.” In addition, chemical enterprises that, following assessment, are located in densely populated urban areas, fail to comply with urban development plans, or do not meet prescribed external safety protection distance requirements, will be included in the “relocation to industrial parks” initiative.

     

    Source: China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation Author: China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation Editor: xwbj3

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