Characteristics of hazardous chemical accidents in China: A statistical investigation

Abstract

Utilizing data from official sources, 1632 hazardous chemical accidents (HCAs) occurring in China (2006–2010) were investigated for statistical characteristics. The following results were obtained: (1) Time volatility: The yearly number of HCAs is shown to be almost constant (with a slightly increasing number of fixed facility HCAs); fixed facility and transportation HCAs do not always follow similar patterns at month and hour-level. (2) Location distribution: There are provincial classifications of HCA materials involved in certain types of industries and the potential for HCAs is highly concentrated in urban areas. (3) Fixed facility type versus transportation type: Explosions represent almost half (48.4%) of fixed facility HCAs followed by releases (41.5%) and fires (10.1%); whereas for transportation HCAs, releases account for 79.6%, then explosions (15.1%) and fires (5.3%). As for domino effects, releases were often the cause of subsequent explosions or fires. (4) Injury versus death: In contrast with other industrial accidents, HCAs result in more severe casualties. For explosion and release HCAs in China, the ratio of death to major injury is quite high, with the exception of fire HCAs. (5) Cause: Concerning immediate causes, human factors account for the majority of HCAs followed by equipment deficiency; environment is also a causative factor. Internal corporate management failures and lack of external government supervision (particularly HCAs occurring in illegal corporations) are both root causes in China. (6)Corporate proneness: Majority of HCAs occur in private corporations; as corporations grow, the occurrence of HCAs are shown to decline steadily then level off, following which they are forecasted to increase again in the “aging stages”, all of which can be explained by Corporate Lifecycles Theory.