Hebei Province will assess the safety risks of chemical industrial parks and publish the list of approved parks by the end of October.

Recently, Hebei Province issued the “Three-Year Action Plan for Special Rectification of Hazardous Chemicals and for Safety in Industrial Parks and Other Functional Zones” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The Plan states that this year, Hebei will establish an inter-departmental joint working mechanism to conduct safety risk inspections and assessments of chemical parks (including chemical industry clusters), and specifies that the Hebei Provincial Government, together with relevant departments, will carry out the designation of chemical parks and publish a list of such parks by the end of October this year.

According to the Plan, from May this year through the end of the year will be the inspection and remediation phase. By the end of 2022, the completion rates for park‑level safety risk assessments, the establishment of an integrated, visualized information‑sharing platform for safety supervision, the deployment of a park‑wide information system for work‑safety management, and the monitoring of major hazard sources within the province’s hazardous‑chemical safety monitoring and early‑warning system are all required to reach 100%. For industrial parks involving chemical and hazardous‑chemical production enterprises, at least 75% of enforcement personnel must hold relevant professional qualifications and practical experience in chemical safety production. This will help further refine the park‑level regulatory framework, standardize park development planning, and promote rational enterprise placement; it will also establish a comprehensive accident‑prevention system for managing safety risks and addressing potential hazards, effectively preventing and curbing serious and extremely serious accidents, and actively advancing the safe, high‑quality development of these parks.

Meanwhile, a cross-departmental joint working mechanism will be established to conduct follow-up reviews of safety risk assessments and remediation efforts in chemical industrial parks (including concentrated chemical zones), in accordance with the “Guidelines for Safety Risk Identification and Remediation in Chemical Industrial Parks (Trial).” These reviews will further refine the determination of risk levels. For chemical industrial parks rated as Level A, new, renovated, or expanded hazardous chemical projects shall, in principle, not be approved, and such parks will be placed under prioritized remediation and regulatory oversight, with a deadline for corrective measures and improvement; those remaining at Level A by the end of 2021 will be required to shut down and exit the sector. For chemical industrial parks rated as Level B, new, renovated, or expanded hazardous chemical projects shall, in principle, be subject to restrictions; by the end of 2022, any park that has still not achieved a rating of Level C or D will have its designation as a chemical industrial park revoked.

In the area of logistics and storage, comprehensive inspections will be conducted on warehouses storing flammable, explosive, toxic, and hazardous materials, including dangerous chemicals, fireworks and firecrackers, and ammonia‑based refrigerants. Any facilities found to pose significant safety hazards or to have inadequately addressed existing hazards will be subject to strict enforcement in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Furthermore, management of vehicles transporting dangerous goods and of loading and unloading operations within warehousing and logistics parks will be strengthened through measures such as establishing dedicated parking areas and lanes for dangerous chemicals, imposing time‑and‑speed restrictions, and rigorously enforcing standardized loading and unloading procedures. Enhanced safety oversight of these dedicated parking areas and lanes will be implemented to ensure transportation safety.

In enhancing safety oversight within industrial parks, efforts are being accelerated to strengthen the regulatory capacity of enforcement teams. This includes gradually arranging for regulatory and law‑enforcement personnel from key counties (cities and districts) handling hazardous chemicals to undergo on‑the‑job training at large state‑owned chemical enterprises. Furthermore, information technology is being fully leveraged to elevate the level of safety supervision, with vigorous promotion of the development and deployment of an information‑based, intelligent platform for workplace safety in chemical parks. This will enable real‑time risk monitoring and early warning for enterprises within the park, critical facilities, major hazard sources, and infrastructure, thereby completing the construction of an integrated information platform for park‑wide safety management. In addition, the province is expediting the establishment of a provincial‑level risk monitoring and early‑warning system for the safe production of hazardous chemicals, while also instituting a comprehensive automated early‑warning mechanism and management framework. These measures will initially facilitate functions such as automated classification and tiered early warning of safety risks.

In addition, the Plan stipulates that industrial parks must strengthen their capacity for emergency response and preparedness, maintain comprehensive oversight of emergency-related information within the park and among its enterprises, establish a system for hazard communication and coordinated emergency response with surrounding communities, and issue timely early‑warning alerts. It further requires the implementation of preventive measures and emergency response protocols, the establishment of joint emergency‑response mechanisms with key rescue forces in the park’s vicinity, and, for chemical parks, the formation of specialized emergency‑response teams for hazardous chemicals. The plan calls for the refinement of the park’s emergency‑response planning framework, including the development of both overarching and sector‑specific contingency plans; the coordinated deployment of park‑wide emergency‑response resources and the intensification of joint drills; the establishment of a robust public emergency‑supply reserve system; and the integrated planning and allocation of emergency supplies and equipment. Moreover, it mandates the clarification of tiered response systems and procedures for emergency management, ensuring unified command, rapid response, and safe, efficient emergency operations.

Source: China Chemical Industry News