Safety violations lead to four deaths at Xinjiang steel plant

China's Ministry of Emergency Management reported a "relatively serious" poisoning and asphyxiation accident that killed four workers last month at a steel plant in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.

The accident occurred in October during oxygen production operations at the energy and environmental protection department of Xinjiang Bayi Iron & Steel Co, according to a notice released Monday by the ministry.

The Office of the Work Safety Committee of the State Council has circulated details of the incident to provinces, government departments and central enterprises nationwide.

The notice said a subcontractor, Xi'an Shaangu Power Co, violated regulations while cleaning an air compressor lubrication tank, causing the four deaths. The ministry highlighted three major problems exposed by the accident.

First, Bayi Iron & Steel failed to properly supervise its subcontractor, did not conduct safety checks on confined-space work and lost track of personnel inside the plant.

Second, Xi'an Shaangu Power failed to provide safety briefings for confined-space operations and did not implement required measures such as ventilation, monitoring and isolation before starting the hazardous work.

Third, the subcontractor had not learned lessons from a similar incident in January 2023, when Xi'an Shaangu Power was the contractor for confined-space work at another metallurgical company and a poisoning and asphyxiation accident killed five people.

The notice called for a swift investigation and strict legal accountability for those responsible. Because major accidents have repeatedly occurred while Xi'an Shaangu Power served as a subcontractor, authorities will conduct a thorough inspection and investigation to identify root causes and impose severe penalties in accordance with the law, the notice said.