Preventing the next Tianjin incident in China

In Gabriel García Márquez’ Chronicle of a Death Foretold, from the first page, all the characters — and even the reader — are aware that the protagonist is going to be murdered. The only exception is the main character who unsuspectingly walks to his announced death.

Following the same plot, on Oct 12, a warehouse in the Tianjin harbour area exploded when its store of “alcohol material” ignited. The dangerous working conditions were already well known. According to Xinhua news agency, no casualties were reported after the explosion of the three tons of alcohol. An investigation led to the arrest of two persons accused of illegal hazardous chemical storage.

Although such incidents are common throughout China and reported on local news, this one drew cries of outrage. This was because, just two month earlier on Aug 12, the entire country mourned 176 deaths in the same city for the same problems: illegal storage of hazardous chemical material, corruption and lack of appropriate supervision and crisis management procedures.

As in Márquez’s novel, a crisis was already widely anticipated.

The problems of poor storage and mishandling of hazardous materials as well as unsafe working conditions are not news among the Chinese population. Unfortunately, the Tianjin blast is just another one in a long series of social and environmental disasters that have increasingly plagued the nation.

WHEN REALITY DOES NOT MATCH EXPECTATIONS

While China is the world’s biggest producer and consumer of chemical materials, its application of safety laws and regulations still falls short of global standards. The Tianjin death toll and the major environmental damage on Aug 12 in the Binhai harbour area are a casualty of three decades of hyper-accelerated double-digit GDP growth. Previous similar incidents include: 2015 Zhangzhou (Fujian Province) chemical factory explosion, following a similar incident in 2013; 2014 Kunshan (Jangsu Province), explosion in a factory that produced automotive spare parts, causing the death of 75 workers and leaving several hundred injured; and 2013 Dehui (Jilin Province) explosion in a poultry factory that used ammonia and other chemicals, causing the death of 113 workers.

While China is engineering a soft landing for its economy towards a “new normal,” the problems associated with 30 years of flouting rules and neglecting human safety for easy profits are yet to be overcome. Despite a sustained anti-corruption campaign that has hit notable senior officials, the malpractices in the handling of hazardous materials have yet to be addressed.

The nation is in dire need of crisis management procedures and effective supervision. According to international logistic experts, the “corruption laissez faire” produced several hundred potential crises ready to be ignited.

Even warehouses and factories that are not affected by corruption are facing imminent danger owing to a lack of training and supervision. The Tianjin explosion in the Binhai harbour area stemmed from clear security breaches, starting with the construction of the hazardous chemicals storage facility just 600 metres from a crowded residential area.

The blast killed almost two hundred people and displaced thousand of local residents due to the blast wave and remains of heavy pollutants such as cyanide and ammonia in the surrounding area. At the same time, the lack of training in safety procedures hastened the death of 21 fire-fighters and local security personnel.

According to Xinhua news agency, the State Council team investigating the Aug 12 Tianjin explosion found two dozen culprits identified as members of the chemical warehouse personnel (Tianjin Ruihai International Logistics Co. Ltd) and officials from Tianjin port authority. The legal charges ranged from illegal operation to corruption and dereliction of duty.

While Chinese premier Li Keqiang in an official speech reassured the nation that those responsible will be held accountable and punished according to the law, the investigation is still ongoing due to billions of dollars in insurance claims and the impact on future real estate redevelopment of the entire area.

China does not need new rules in the handling and storage of dangerous goods. China’s Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) lays out terms for handling and transport of dangerous materials, and these are internationally recognised.

What China needs is compliance and enforcement.

The producer of the chemical substance issues the MSDS. Without proper certification, the goods should never be accepted for transport or warehousing. Once the hazardous goods are received at the storage destination, the MSDS should be shared with the district authorities and updated to inform local firefighters of the threat level.

The constant lure of high profit margins means Beijing faces a long and arduous path to building a safety culture. This path will need to include inculcating a responsible corporate culture among local stakeholders to ensure monitoring and reporting of wrongdoings and taking responsibility for preventing environmental damage.

Otherwise, what we will have is “A Chronicle of [Many Deaths] Foretold”.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dr Alessandro Arduino is Visiting Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University.