The Existing Problems In Safety Monitoring On Special Equipment In China And The Solutions

Along with the rapid development of our national economy, the quantity of special equipment needed for China is increasing rapidly too. As the important social means of production, special equipment is playing a more and more important role in the production in all sectors. Special equipment is different from other pieces of normal production equipment. It is highly dangerous and has the highest risk for accidents. An accident from this kind will have a great treat on human lives and properties, projecting serious impact to the society and undermining social stability and the normal development of the economy. In order to bring special equipment into its furthest play in the production, we must do a good job with the safety monitoring on special equipment. Under this circumstances, in this article, I have discussed the problems existing in safety monitoring of special equipment in China and their solutions.In this article, I first expounded the organs, rule and law systems, personnel, the whole system and the basic approaches on special equipment safety monitoring in China. I have theoretically analyzed the necessity of doing well the special equipment safety monitoring work. Since the works of special equipment safety monitoring are different from that of monitoring and managing normal products and equipment. It starts from preventing accidents from happening. Presently, the measuring means on the effect of safety monitoring are just seeing the rate of accident. Next I have given one example of an especially serious production safety accident ever happen in the metallurgy industry, which claimed the largest death toll for many years. Basing on the 256 accidents happened in 2007, I have worked out the statistics on the distribution of the accidents on different steps of production. According to the statistics, it is found that 202 accidents were raised from using special equipment without following the rules, accounting for 79% of the total. Therefore, it is concluded that the main cause for the accidents is using the special equipment without following the rules. Upon analyzing the different steps of using the equipment, some main causes for the accidents are found as follows: Some legal persons of the units using the pieces of special equipment or the owners have a weak sense of responsibility as the safety main bodies; some have a weak sense of safety; some focus their importance only on pursuing the economic benefits, while they illegally use the "self-made equipment", some fail to establish the safety management department or safety management personnel according to the rules, deeming the safety management department the one that cannot create direct economic benefits from and therefore being superfluous; some appoint the safety management personnel at discretion. All these resulted in such situations: The safety liabilities cannot be fulfilled; safety monitoring on production is lacking; the safety system is simply a sham. Such units don't report the installation, maintenance and reform of the special equipment to the concerned quality monitoring departments; They use the equipment without acquiring the credentials upon passing safety examination from the examination institutions, believing that they themselves have the abilities to ensure the safety of the special equipment, or that the regular examinations of the special equipment is not of necessity. Therefore they rejected the regular examinations; Some enterprises from investment invitation or some privately owned enterprises illegally shift, install and use the old special equipment. This made the safety status uncertain and there is a hidden risk for safety accidents; The operational personnel of the special equipment are put to the positions without training; Operations of the special equipment are done without following the rules, etc. By analyzing the main causes of the accidents on the using steps of the special equipment, it is found that the using units have a weak sense of safety. That is one of the main problems in safety monitoring presently.In comparison with the industrial developed countries, China has a short history in the works of safety monitoring. Therefore, in this article, I have made studies, analysis and comparison upon the special equipment safety monitoring in China and in other countries and thus found out the existing problems in special equipment safety monitoring. For instance, some developed countries have special laws for the management on special equipment, while our country lacks the special laws on the special equipment rule and code systems. On the other hand, the contents of our Ordinance on Special Equipment Safety Monitoring are not complete. Some issues that should be prescribed by department regulations (such as administrative procedures, examination and approval measures) are mostly released in the form of "department documentation". We lack the regulations on guidance principles for accident analysis and safety assessment and so on. Our safety monitoring measures are hard to adapt to the new situation. Our state or our enterprises invest little in the safety management and our safety science and technology is relatively lagged behind.In conclusion, facing the existing problems in safety monitoring, I have put forward the following solutions or suggestions on improving the safety monitoring on special equipment: 1. further reinforcing the building of the legal system; 2. promoting reform and innovation and intensifying safety monitoring; 3. enhancing the sense of safety responsibility; 4. enhancing the social monitoring; 5. increasing fund investment and promoting scientific advancing.