On May 24, the Jinan Municipal Emergency Management Bureau released the "Investigation Report on the '12·30' Relatively Major Collapse Accident of the PPP Project for the Rainwater-Sewage Combined Pipe Network Renovation and Urban Waterlogging Control in the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area of the Central Urban Area of Jinan, Shandong Province, Licheng District, Jinan City."

At about 9:33 on December 30, 2023, a collapse accident occurred during construction operations at the PPP Project for the Rainwater-Sewage Combined Pipe Network Renovation and Urban Waterlogging Control in the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area of the Central Urban Area of Jinan, Shandong Province (hereinafter referred to as the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Project), located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Minziqian Road and Shanda South Road, Shandalu Subdistrict, Licheng District, Jinan City, causing 3 deaths and direct economic losses of more than 6 million yuan.

Upon investigation, it was determined that this accident was a relatively major production safety responsibility accident caused by on-site management personnel organizing construction operations in violation of regulations, chaotic management by the construction unit, and inadequate performance of duties by industry regulatory departments.

I. Course of the Accident

At about 7:04 on December 30, 2023, Lu Xuying, acting on Wang Liangfa's arrangements, organized 8 construction workers including Hu Jinzhu, Yu Xuefeng, and Wang Hanbao to hold a pre-shift meeting, assigned work such as trench lowering, sand and gravel leveling, and pipe laying, and explained safety precautions for walking along the trench edge. At about 8:00, excavator operator Chu Guoqing began excavation work and piled the excavated earth on the south side of the trench. During this period, Chu Guoqing drove the excavator on the south side of the trench.

At about 8:22, on-site construction workers removed the steel supporting braces.

At about 8:31, Hu Jinzhu, Yu Xuefeng, and Wang Hanbao descended to the bottom of the trench and began operations.

At about 9:33, the earth on the south side of the trench suddenly collapsed, pushing the 4 steel plates used for support to displace and overturn as a whole, causing the 3 construction workers Hu Jinzhu, Yu Xuefeng, and Wang Hanbao, who were working in the trench, to be crushed to death.

II. Direct Cause of the Accident

The direct cause of the accident was: under the conditions that the trench support did not meet the requirements of the construction plan, the excavator repeatedly ran over the earth illegally piled on the south side of the trench, and the steel supporting braces were illegally removed, on-site personnel ventured into the trench to work, and the collapse of the earth on the south side of the trench caused the supporting steel plates to displace and crush the workers to death.

III. Indirect Causes of the Accident

1. Qingdao Investment Company. (General contractor) Project department management personnel failed to perform their duties and responsibilities adequately, did not promptly eliminate the long-standing collapse accident hazards at the operation site, did not prepare and review the construction plan as required, did not promptly convey the work suspension order, failed to detect illegal operations at the construction site, and did not provide education, training, and technical briefings to on-site workers as required.

2. Wang Liangfa construction team. On-site workers had weak safety production awareness and did not promptly eliminate the accident hazards existing at the construction site as required. (Chengda Company was the subcontractor)

3. Hengxin Company. (Supervision unit) Failed to detect the illegal operations of Qingdao Investment Company at the site, did not promptly urge the elimination of the long-standing collapse accident hazards at the operation site as required by the inspection requirements of the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Construction Group, did not review the construction plan as required, and failed to adequately track and follow up on the implementation of the issued supervision notices and work suspension orders.

4. Jinan Ecological Company. (Construction unit) Failed to effectively urge the construction unit to rectify the hazard problems found during inspections.

5. Municipal Drainage Service Center. As the unit undertaking the implementation of the PPP Project for the Rainwater-Sewage Combined Pipe Network Renovation and Waterlogging Control in the Central Urban Area of Jinan, it failed to adequately perform its engineering safety supervision and inspection duties, did not track and implement rectification of the accident safety hazards found during on-site supervision and inspection, and failed to form closed-loop management of the hazard problems found during inspections.

6. Municipal Water Affairs Bureau. Failed to adequately perform the duty of "whoever manages the industry must manage safety," and failed to adequately implement direct industry supervision responsibilities. As the implementing agency of the PPP Project for the Rainwater-Sewage Combined Pipe Network Renovation and Waterlogging Control in the Central Urban Area of Jinan, it failed to adequately perform its engineering safety supervision and inspection duties, did not track and implement rectification of the accident safety hazards found during on-site supervision and inspection, and failed to form closed-loop management of the hazard problems found during inspections.

3 persons held criminally responsible! 25 persons held accountable and dealt with

01. Persons already subject to compulsory measures by judicial authorities (2 persons)

■ Lu Xuying, male, member of the general public, technician of the construction team, responsible for organizing on-site construction. Under the circumstances that the steel supporting braces had been removed, the construction site support did not meet requirements, and collapse accident hazards existed, he organized personnel to enter the dangerous area to carry out operations, bearing primary responsibility for the occurrence of the accident. On suspicion of the crime of major responsibility accident, he has been approved for arrest by the Licheng District Procuratorate. It is recommended that he be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law by judicial authorities.

■ Wang Nianpu, male, member of the general public, project quality inspector (intern) of the Fourth Work Area Project Department, responsible for construction site management on Shanda South Road. Knowing that collapse accident hazards existed at the construction site, he failed to promptly convey the important work suspension order to the construction team, bearing primary responsibility for the occurrence of the accident. On suspicion of the crime of major responsibility accident, he has been subject to the compulsory measure of release on bail pending trial by the Licheng District Public Security Sub-bureau. It is recommended that he be held criminally responsible in accordance with the law by judicial authorities.

02. Person recommended for transfer to judicial authorities (1 person)

■ Wang Liangfa, male, member of the general public, head of the construction team, failed to promptly eliminate the collapse accident hazards existing at the operation site and allowed on-site workers to work at risk, bearing primary responsibility for the occurrence of the accident. It is recommended that judicial authorities hold him criminally responsible in accordance with the law.

03. Recommendations for handling relevant public officials (8 persons)

1. Liu Jiang, male, member of the Communist Party of China, engineer of the Technical Department of the Municipal Drainage Service Center, staff member of the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Project Construction Group, and convener of monthly inspections. It is recommended that he be given an administrative warning sanction.

2. Xia Feng, male, member of the general public, engineer of the Information and Archives Department of the Municipal Drainage Service Center, and staff member of the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Project Construction Group. It is recommended that he be given an administrative warning sanction.

3. Xing Jingjun, male, member of the Communist Party of China, deputy director of the Municipal Drainage Service Center, and member of the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Project Construction Group. It is recommended that he be given a disciplinary admonition.

4. Liu Hongchen, male, member of the Communist Party of China, director of the Municipal Drainage Service Center and deputy head of the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Project Construction Group. It is recommended that he be given criticism and education and ordered to make a written self-examination.

5. Zhang Hui, male, member of the Communist Party of China, director of the Drainage Management Division of the Municipal Water Affairs Bureau. It is recommended that he be given criticism and education and ordered to make a written self-examination.

6. Wang Junsheng, male, member of the Communist Party of China, deputy director of the Municipal Water Affairs Bureau and head of the Daming Lake Drainage Sub-area Construction Group. It is recommended that he be given a talk and reminder. 7. Chen Xuefeng, male, member of the Communist Party of China, deputy director of the Municipal Water Affairs Bureau. It is recommended that he be given a talk and reminder. 8. Li Jixiao, male, member of the Communist Party of China, then director of the Municipal Water Affairs Bureau. It is recommended that he be given a talk and reminder.

04. Recommendations for administrative penalties against relevant responsible units and persons involved in the accident(10 persons)

1. Recommendations for administrative penalties against relevant units:

■ Qingdao Investment Company. It is recommended that it be fined 1.1 million yuan.

■ Hengxin Company. It is recommended that it be fined 300,000 yuan.

2. Recommendations for administrative penalties against relevant persons (10 persons)

(1) Zhang Hailong,male, member of the general public, chief engineer of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(2) Sun Jianyi,male, member of the general public, safety director and HSE Department director of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(3) Geng Wei,male, member of the general public, production manager of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(4) Li Huichao,male, probationary member of the Communist Party of China, executive deputy manager of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(5) Liu Mingjun,male, member of the Communist Party of China, deputy general manager of Qingdao Investment Company and project manager of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(6) Li Zhongliang,male, member of the Communist Party of China, legal representative of Qingdao Investment Company. It is recommended that he be fined 60 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(7) Zhang Rui,male, member of the general public, supervision engineer of the Project Supervision Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(8) Fan Huaiwei,male, member of the general public, chief supervision engineer of the Project Supervision Department. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(9) Zhao Zhengwei,male, member of the Communist Party of China, manager of the Safety and Environmental Protection Department of Jinan Ecological Company. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

(10) Ruan Meiwen,male, member of the Communist Party of China, safety director of Jinan Ecological Company. It is recommended that he be fined 30 percent of his previous year's annual income.

05. Other handling recommendations (7 persons)

1. Ma Hong,male, member of the general public, project safety officer of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

2. Sun Hui,male, member of the general public, project quality inspector of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

3. Hu Shixing,male, member of the Communist Party of China, project quality inspector of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

4. Wu Jianluo,male, member of the general public, director of the Quality Department of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

5. Yu Dezhong,male, member of the general public, commercial manager and director of the Commercial Department of the Fourth Work Area Project Department. He exercised lax review and control over on-site construction teams. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

6. Xiao Dongdong,male, member of the general public, safety officer of the Safety and Environmental Protection Department of Jinan Ecological Company. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

7. Cai Wenhua,male, member of the general public, area head of the Engineering Department of Jinan Ecological Company. It is recommended that he be handled in accordance with the company's internal regulations.

The Municipal Water Affairs Bureau is instructed to make a written self-examination to the municipal government and copy it to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision and the Office of the Municipal Work Safety Committee.