To earnestly implement the instructions of central leadership and the work arrangements of the national work safety teleconference, the General Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development recently issued a notice requiring that work safety management be effectively strengthened to promote improvement in the work safety situation across the housing and urban-rural development system.

 

　　The notice requires that housing and urban-rural development authorities in all localities strengthen their red-line awareness and fully implement work safety responsibilities. They must always put people's lives and safety first, firmly uphold the red line that development must never come at the cost of human life, clearly recognize the severe situation of frequent and high-incidence accidents during the rapid industrialization and urbanization stage, and enhance their sense of responsibility and urgency. In accordance with the principle that those who manage an industry must manage safety, those who manage business must manage safety, and those who manage production and operations must manage safety, they should strengthen organizational leadership over work safety. They should strengthen reform and innovation of the safety supervision system and firmly implement existing systems. Efforts should focus on strengthening grassroots law enforcement capacity and enhancing work effectiveness. Enterprises in the housing and urban-rural development field must earnestly fulfill their primary responsibilities for work safety, especially for hidden danger investigation and governance, accident prevention, and initial response.

 

　　The notice also requires that all localities strengthen planning management and make safety a precondition for urban planning and construction. Before compiling an overall urban plan, an evaluation of infrastructure support capacity and construction conditions must be conducted, and special research must be carried out on factors related to urban work safety such as land, water, energy, and the environment. In urban disaster prevention plans, urban land risk assessment and safety layout, disaster prevention facility planning, and emergency passage and emergency shelter planning should be improved to enhance urban disaster prevention capacity. Safeguarding urban safety should be an important part of the review and approval of overall urban plans and related plans for new urban areas and development zones.

 

　　The notice further requires that all localities strengthen supervision and law enforcement in the construction market to ensure project quality and safety, and strengthen safety supervision of construction to resolutely curb major and especially major accidents. Market violations such as violating statutory construction procedures, illegal subcontracting, transfer of contracts, affiliation, bid rigging, and collusive bidding must be seriously investigated and handled, and exposed through the national construction market credit information platform. Dynamic supervision of qualifications and credentials should be strengthened, the "one-vote veto" system for safety responsibilities should be further implemented, and work safety-related indicators should be incorporated into market access standards. The linkage mechanism between the construction site and the construction market should be improved, units and personnel responsible for violations and quality safety accidents should be seriously investigated and handled according to law, and a market mechanism of rewarding integrity and punishing dishonesty should be guided and established. At the same time, with focus on affordable housing projects and urban rail transit projects, construction enterprises should be urged to strengthen on-site safety management, earnestly investigate and address hidden dangers in parts and links such as deep foundation pits, tunnel support structures, construction hoisting machinery, and tall formwork, and effectively prevent major and above accidents. Special work safety rectification focusing on preventing accidents such as collapses of construction hoisting machinery and formwork support systems should continue to be carried out in depth, and the special campaign to "crack down on illegal acts and rectify violations" should continue to be advanced. Supervision and inspection of key areas, key enterprises, and key projects should be further strengthened, and accident notification and investigation efforts should be increased.

 

　　The notice emphasizes that safety supervision of municipal facilities should be strengthened to ensure their safe and stable operation; safety supervision of building use should be strengthened to effectively prevent accidents in building use; and safety supervision of village and town construction should be strengthened to improve the safety level of village and town construction projects. During the Spring Festival and the "Two Sessions," all localities should further strengthen safety precautions and, in light of actual conditions, adopt the "four noes and two directs" approach (no notice, no greeting, no briefing, no accompaniment or reception, going directly to the grassroots and directly to the site) to carry out safety inspections, resolutely stop blind rushing of construction schedules, promptly eliminate hidden faults in municipal facilities, and strictly prevent safety accidents. The emergency duty responsibility system should be implemented, information channels should be kept open, emergency teams and materials should be kept on standby, and emergencies should be properly handled in a timely manner.