A lesson bought with a fine of 54,000 yuan!

Trial production for nearly a year

Electricity consumption surges10 times

butStillPassed safety acceptance

What did law enforcement officers find in the workshop?

Aluminum dust was randomly piled up, the casting machine had no protection, and the equipment was not explosion-proof at all...

17 itemsSafety hazards

Each one could explode at any time."bomb”

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On March 17, 2025, law enforcement officers from the Xinwu District Emergency Management Bureau in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, conducted a safety inspection at an automotive parts casting and processing company within their jurisdiction. The company, which processes molten metal (nonferrous metals) and explosive dust (aluminum and magnesium), a key process under regulatory scrutiny, had been included in the district's annual key law enforcement plan. During the inspection, officers discovered numerous serious safety hazards, including the haphazard storage of aluminum dust, lack of protective equipment on casting machines, and ineffective explosion-proof equipment. A potential safety hazard had been quietly planted.

No acceptance one year after production

Inside the factory, aluminum alloy melting furnaces continued to operate and grinders hummed continuously. Law enforcement officers discovered that the company, which specializes in the casting and processing of automotive parts, had not yet completed acceptance inspections of its safety facilities since trial production began in May 2024.

"We are still in the trial operation stage, and we will conduct acceptance inspection after all the equipment is installed." The person in charge of the company said when asked. However, according to the company's electricity consumption data, the electricity consumption in the initial trial operation in May 2024 was only 8272 kWh, and by February 2025 it had increased to more than 89067 kWh, and it maintained full-load production for several consecutive months.The so-called "trial operation" has actually been officially put into production。

Law enforcement officers reviewed the project construction process of the enterprise and found that there were obvious gaps in the safety and compliance links. The enterprise was established in December 2022, obtained the project registration certificate in June 2023, completed the safety pre-assessment and facility design plan in November of the same year, and obtained the safety review opinion issued by the emergency management department in March 2024. According to regulations, the completion acceptance of safety facilities is the last statutory procedure before production, but after the enterprise completed the installation of some equipment in May 2024,Starting construction without acceptance。

17 hidden dangers were found in one inspection

The law enforcement officers conducted this inspectionA total of 17 safety hazards were found, among which issues related to explosive dust and molten metal directly touch the safety red line.

In the company's cutting area, a bag of aluminum dust was haphazardly piled next to a cutting machine, with no hydrogen monitoring equipment or explosion-proof measures in place. Aluminum dust is highly explosive when exposed to fire, a situation that has been previously reported and provided painful lessons.

In the company's casting area, a four-column low-pressure casting machine operated at high temperatures without any protective devices. Worse still, the machine required two people to operate, but the start button was controlled by a single person, and the operator's side lacked a mold closing interlock.

"If an accident occurs, there won't be enough time to shut down the machine immediately." Law enforcement officers pointed out that molten metal reaches temperatures of hundreds of degrees Celsius, and the consequences of splashing or equipment misoperation could be disastrous. The hidden dangers in the grinding area were equally serious. The iron workbench was not grounded for static electricity, and the portable sockets and handheld angle grinders used were not explosion-proof. The cleaning tools were iron tools that could produce sparks. "According to national standards, electrical equipment in areas prone to explosive dust must meet explosion-proof requirements. Static electricity or sparks caused by metal tools could become the fuse of an explosion," the law enforcement officers pointed out the hidden dangers and explained them carefully to the company's head.

"These are not minor problems, but potentially fatal hidden dangers!" After recording and photographing the scene and collecting evidence, law enforcement officers compared the situation with national standards such as the "Safety Requirements for Low-Pressure Casting Machines" and the "Dust Explosion Prevention Safety Regulations," confirming that the company had committed three violations:Safety facilities are put into production before passing the final acceptance inspection; safety equipment installation does not meet national standards; and measures are not taken to eliminate potential safety hazards.。

Faced with the evidence, the head of the company admitted that the installation of equipment was delayed due to insufficient orders in the second half of 2024. After the Spring Festival in 2025, orders surged, so they started production at full capacity with the fluke mentality of "producing first and then rectifying". "I thought that as long as nothing went wrong, there would be no problem. I didn't expect these details to violate the regulations."

In accordance with the "Safety Production Law of the People's Republic of China", "Measures for the Supervision and Management of the 'Three Simultaneous' Safety Facilities in Construction Projects" and other laws and regulations, and in combination with the Jiangsu Province Safety Production Administrative Penalty Discretion Standard, the Xinwu District Emergency Management Bureau has made aAn administrative penalty of ordering rectification within a specified period and a combined fine of 54,000 yuan was imposed. Law enforcement officers simultaneously explained the regulatory requirements to the company leaders.

Law enforcement officers said

■ Zhu Chenhai

This case exposes some companies' disregard for the "three simultaneous" system. The "three simultaneous" system for safety facilities in construction projects is a fundamental system for ensuring safe production. Every step, from project initiation to final acceptance, is designed to eliminate risks before production begins.

Industrial and commercial enterprises, especially those involved in high-risk projects like molten metal and explosive dust, must strictly adhere to safety guidelines: Before construction, a safety pre-assessment must be conducted and a standard safety facility design plan must be prepared. During construction, safety facilities must be implemented simultaneously with the main project. Before commissioning, a final acceptance inspection must be completed, and production cannot begin without passing this inspection. Key business leaders must earnestly fulfill their primary responsibilities and not allow safety management to remain a mere recordkeeping exercise.

There is no shortcut to safe production. Only by strengthening every line of defense can we protect the lifeline of enterprise development.At present, the Xinwu District Emergency Management Bureau has included high-risk industry enterprises in its annual law enforcement plan. Through "checklist-style" inspections and "penetrating" supervision, it strictly investigates illegal acts such as construction without approval and commissioning without inspection.

One inspection revealed 17 hidden dangers and a 54,000 yuan fine.

Behind these numbers

It was a near disaster.

It's also a lesson that could have been avoided.

Safety is the greatest benefit and compliance is the best guarantee

●Authors: Sun Weiwei, Li Yingjie, Zhu Chenhai

●Source:China Emergency Management News, August 29, Page 3, Original Title: "Starting production before acceptance: Such "trial production" is self-deception"》Editor: Yang Anqi

●Editor: Huang Yulin