The worker said that there are no days of downtime in the factory, and there is no time even for inspection and maintenance of equipment. It only stops for maintenance when the equipment breaks down.
Picture/Visual China
On December 3, the sewage tank of Haining Longzhou Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. was in danger of collapsing. As of the 4th, a total of 24 people had been rescued from the scene, 9 of whom died despite all-out efforts to rescue them, and 15 others were injured.
At about 17:19 on December 3, in the Dangwan Industrial Park, Xucun Town, Haining, the sewage tank of Haining Longzhou Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. was in danger of collapsing. to the steam pipe causing an explosion. As of December 4, a total of 24 people had been rescued from the accident site, of whom 9 died and 15 were injured.
According to the Haining Municipal Government Information Office, after the accident, six local working groups were set up to carry out search and rescue operations overnight. A total of more than 500 rescue personnel from public security, emergency management, fire protection, armed police and other departments, as well as local Xucun towns and private rescue forces were mobilized, more than 30 vehicles were deployed, and equipment such as hoisting excavators, drones, and life detectors were invested On-site excavation and disposal.
The Haining Municipal Health Bureau launched a medical emergency response plan, opened a green channel, and quickly organized and mobilized nearly a hundred medical personnel, including an expert team from Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital, to participate in the treatment work.
As of about 3 a.m. on December 4, after careful investigation and confirmation, all known missing persons have been found. A total of 24 people were rescued at the scene, 9 of whom died and 15 were injured.
The local area has initiated work plans for casualty rescue and psychological intervention. At the same time, it has launched an emergency plan for water pollution prevention and control, continues to monitor the water quality of relevant rivers, and pays close attention to changes in water quality. In addition, the public security organs will control the main responsible persons and relevant responsible persons of the enterprises involved.
On-site staff and villagers clean up the polluted creek
Reporter Arrived at the scene on the evening of December 3rd. The remains of the collapsed sewage tank were scattered on the ground, and a large amount of black sewage flowed on the ground, mixing with the stains to form a large amount of sludge.
After the accident, many cars were damaged to varying degrees. Some cars were completely deformed or even flattened.
On the morning of December 4, a large number of staff were cleaning up the scene, and from time to time vehicles would transport smashed and deformed cars out of it.
The reporter saw at the sewage treatment station of the company involved that a white tank collapsed in the factory area. Most of the tank fell on the nearby river, and the sewage flowed into the small river. There were some black floating objects and debris on the river, and staff and local villagers were cleaning them up in the river.
A house next to the sewage treatment station was seriously damaged, with cracks in the wall. There are also debris and construction waste piled around, including wooden boards and steel bars. Traces of life can still be seen in the house, scattered with clothing, snakeskin bags, clothing, sofas and other daily necessities.
Telling about injured workers in a neighboring factory: sewage mixed with bricks poured into the factory
When the accident occurred , Wang Lin (pseudonym) was at home when he suddenly heard a muffled sound, “like a flat tire.” At the same time, there was a slight vibration in the house, and he then went to the scene of the incident 300 meters away to check.
Wang Lin said that on the road outside the incident site, he saw “black” sewage flowing out of the park, accompanied by a smell. Then, fire engines, police cars and ambulances rushed to the scene and started rescue work.
The sound “like a flat tire” that Wang Lin heard did not entirely come from the sewage tank. Wang Jiankun, deputy secretary of the Haining Municipal Party Committee and deputy secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, said at a press conference held on December 4 that after the sewage tank collapsed, it pressed on the steam pipe, causing it to explode, and a loud noise was made.
It is reported that the injured who were rescued were sent to Haining People’s Hospital, Yuhang District First People’s Hospital and other places for treatment, and most of them were sent to Haining Central Hospital. On the evening of December 3, reporters learned from the emergency department of Haining Central Hospital that the four deceased in the accident were sent to the hospital. Their identities have not yet been determined. “The registration shows that they are all anonymous.” In addition, the hospital has also treated many injured in the accident, and several of them are in the ICU during full rescue operations.
Wu Cheng (pseudonym) was one of the injured in the accident. When the reporter saw him at Haining Central Hospital on December 4, he had injuries on the soles of his feet and forehead. He was wrapped in gauze, and there were many scratches on his hands and face. He said he had multiple injuries on his body, mainly because his spine was compressed and he felt very painful.
Wu Cheng said that he and his wife are in their 30s and both are from Henan. The couple were workers in a textile factory adjacent to the accident factory, and he was responsible for machine maintenance in the textile factory. The collapse of the sewage tank affected the textile factory.
At that time, Wu Cheng and his wife were working in the textile factory. Suddenly they heard a loud “bang”, and then sewage mixed with bricks rushed towards them, killing the couple. The person was buried underneath, “I couldn’t move at that time, I couldn’t see anything inside, and I couldn’t stand up.”
Wu Chenggong began to save himself, slowly peeling away the surrounding bricks, and finally climbed out of the rubble. They were working on the first floor, which suffered the most serious damage. He rescued his wife after they came out.
Wu Cheng said that currentlyMy wife is still in the intensive care unit, “I want to see my wife.”
Following up many previous interviews with the companies involved Penalized times
The reporter inquired in the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System that the company involved had failed to truthfully record the quantity and flow of highly toxic chemicals, explosive precursors and dangerous chemicals, etc. He was subject to administrative penalties many times.
The National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System shows that Haining Longzhou Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. was established in June 1997 with a registered capital of 14.68 million yuan and its legal representative is Yu Bingliang. The company’s main business includes textile weaving, printing, dyeing and finishing; paper tube and nylon bag manufacturing.
The reporter noticed that the national enterprise credit information publicity system showed that Haining Longzhou Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. has been subject to administrative penalties many times. Among them, in June 2015, he was punished by the Haining City Road Transport Management Office because “a cargo operator failed to maintain and inspect transportation vehicles as required”; in September 2016, he was punished by the Haining City Local Taxation Bureau due to tax issues; in October 2017 In March, the company was punished by the Haining Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau for excessive emissions of waste gas.
In addition, the above-mentioned company was punished by the Haining Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau for discharging wastewater beyond the standard in July 2018; in August 2018, it was punished for failing to truthfully record highly toxic chemicals and explosive precursors. The quantity and flow of hazardous chemicals were punished by the Haining Municipal Public Security Bureau.
Twenty hours after the sewage tank collapsed, the reporter found a full-time printing and dyeing worker near the company involved. This worker was from Yunnan and had been working here. There are two years. He said that the factory is divided into male workers and female workers. Female workers are mainly responsible for packaging, while male workers are responsible for transporting dyes. The work of male workers requires a lot of strength. “A bag of dye weighs seventy or eighty kilograms.” These dyes are all black like mud, and there is a strong acid smell in the workshop. They do not wear masks or gloves when working, and “even the gaps between their fingernails are black.”
The worker said that there are no days of downtime in the factory, and there is no time even for inspection and maintenance of equipment. It only stops for repairs when the equipment breaks down.
▲After the tank collapsed, most of it fell on the nearby river, and the sewage flowed into the creek. The local government continues to monitor the water quality of relevant rivers and pay close attention to changes in water quality.
The viewpoint of safety and environmental protection cannot be “separated”
December 4 In Dangwan Industrial Park, Xucun Town, Haining City, Jiaxing, an anaerobic tank for sewage from a printing factory collapsed, crushing the workshops of two nearby companies and causing an accident. Neighboring residents said they heard a muffled sound “like a flat tire” and a vibration during the incident.
In the early morning of the 4th, the Haining Municipal Government held a press conference. According to its report, so far, a total of 9 people have died in the accident, and 4 other seriously injured people are being treated in the hospital.
In this accident, the culprit “sewage tank” was originally used to control pollution, but it accidentally became a “big killer”. This is probably the case for the companies involved. and unexpected by the local environmental protection department. This also reminds relevant departments that facilities with potential safety hazards, including sewage tanks, need to be accurately controlled and that some enterprises with frequent problems need to focus on monitoring.
The reporter’s investigation found that the company involved had been subject to administrative penalties many times for failing to truthfully record the quantity and flow of highly toxic chemicals and dangerous chemicals that could produce explosives.
Highly toxic chemicals and hazardous chemicals that can produce explosives are all issues related to environmental protection and safety. This kind of “record” will inevitably lead to questions: Was the sewage tank collapse accident accidental or inevitable? Behind the multiple penalties, has the local government paid enough attention and implemented targeted rectification measures?
In recent years, in many major accidents, we can often see this phenomenon: once a company has a safety incident, it can be revealed that it has been punished for environmental protection many times before. .
Take the Xiangshui factory explosion accident as an example. The Tianjiayi Chemical involved in the incident had many hidden dangers in both safety and environmental protection – the company had been punished 7 times by the environmental protection department before. The “List of Potential Safety Hazards” of the State Administration of Work Safety also specifically mentioned 13 potential safety hazards of Tianjiayi Chemical. However, Tianjiayi Chemical, which had been suspended for a long time, successfully resumed production after meeting environmental protection rectification standards. However, no one paid attention to potential safety hazards such as deliberate concealment, illegal storage, and illegal disposal of nitrification waste, which resulted in a shocking accident.
Both environmental protection and safety represent the management level of a company. A company that is a “habitual offender” of environmental protection violations often has a safety record that is not much better. Vice versa is almost a rule. Therefore, for the supervision of enterprises, we cannot just ignore environmental protection and safety, but should have a supervisory mindset that is interconnected and coordinated.
In fact, as early as after the Tianjin explosion, some professionals pointed out that the existing administrative supervision functions related to production safety and environmental risk management and control of existing safety and environmental protection departments should be integrated. Establish a unified accident risk response and disposal system that is closely connected with major accident safety supervision and environmental risk prevention and control. Unfortunately, similar regulatory ideas are rare in many regions.
Safety and environmental protection are major issues in local governance, and almost no place dares not pay attention to them. However, no matter how much attention is paid to it, if safety and environmental protection are still separated, it is likely to achieve half the result with twice the effort.
Both the Xiangshui explosion and the collapse of the Haining sewage tank have sounded the alarm: safety and environmental protection can be separated in organizational settings, but they must not be “separated” in work. “Separation”, the supervision of enterprises and the prevention of major accident risks require integrated governance thinking.
The collapse of the water tank has sounded the alarm: safety and environmental protection can be separated in organizational settings, but they must not be “separated” in work. The supervision of enterprises and the prevention of major accident risks require integrated governance. thinking. </p
