Total number of dead climbs from 75 to 146.....

When government safety organizations fail to enforce their country’s laws, some isolated companies will ignore the safety of their workers. Here is an update on the largest aluminium dust/fine explosion in our industry that occurred in 2014.

China’s Cabinet has announced the firing of the top two officials in an eastern city where an explosion at an aluminium wheel factory in August 2014 killed 146 people in the country’s worst industrial accident since 2005.

The State Council also issued disciplinary demerits against a deputy provincial governor and the director of the provincial work safety bureau, and 18 other people — including factory executives and several safety and fire officials — were placed under judicial review for possible indictment, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The dust explosion at Zhongrong Metal Products Co. Ltd. in the city of Kunshan killed 75 people immediately. The death toll climbed to 146 when other workers died in the hospital. The factory supplied parts to General Motors.

Dust explosions can occur when tiny metal particles — in this case powdered aluminum — are suspended in air in an enclosed space.

In Kunshan, a national investigation team found that local officials were negligent in enforcing safety regulations and that plant management failed to provide safety training for workers and ignored rules on building spacing, density in manufacturing lines, dust cleanup, and use of anti-explosion equipment.

The state said it is aiming to hold local government officials and company executives accountable by meting out harsh penalties for work accidents with high casualties.

According to officials, the incident was China’s worst industrial disaster in nine years and highlighted continuing problems with workplace safety. In 2005, a mine incident in northeastern China killed 171 people.

A vast majority of companies in our industry take worker safety serious. Unfortunately there are a few isolated companies who do not take worker safety serious. Not surprising these isolated companies have a poor safety record. As with all incidents this explosion could have been prevented if the company followed the industry’s best practices toward safety.

The Aluminum Association (US) has an excellent resource which is considered by many as the industry’s best practices toward safety. It can be viewed here.

The Aluminium Times Magazine had an article about aluminium dust/fines. It can be viewed below.

The Aluminium Times Magazine had an article about this incident. It can be viewed below.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blogs offers our sincere condolences to the deceased families, friends, and coworkers. It is our hope that this tragedy results in better enforcement of working conditions in China. 

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