Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development: Carrying out special actions to prevent falls from heights in housing and municipal projects

China News Service, November 11. According to the website of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, in order to effectively carry out safety production work during the end of the year and the beginning of the year, New Year's Day, and the Spring Festival, and strictly prevent accidents caused by rushing to meet deadlines and winter construction, the Office of the Work Safety Management Committee of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has decided to launch a nationwide special campaign to prevent falls from heights in housing and municipal engineering projects from now until before the Spring Festival of 2027 (February 6). After the special action is completed, it will be transferred to normalized long-term management. The main tasks are as follows:

(1) Strict supervision and inspection by regulatory authorities

1. Implement full coverage inspection and differentiated supervision. Before March 31, 2027, all projects under construction will be replaced with electronic construction safety supervision certificates and licenses. Renewal must be carried out on-site for start-up inspection and verification of protection for working at heights. Those who do not meet the conditions are not allowed to renew or start work. Emphasis is placed on construction at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, the two festivals and winter, and strict inspection of construction deadlines, anti-skid and anti-freezing. Promote risk classification and credit supervision, and determine the frequency of inspections in a differentiated manner.

2. Strictly control the quality of protective equipment. Implement the special rectification and deployment of safety hazards of key labor protective equipment in the three departments of market supervision, housing and urban-rural development, and emergency management, cooperate with the market supervision department to carry out joint quality inspections of safety helmets, safety belts, self-locking devices, speed differentials, safety nets, etc., strictly inspect unqualified and counterfeit and shoddy products, trace their origins, and clear them from the market; urge the user units to implement inspections on every purchase and on-site acceptance, and promote quality traceability throughout the chain.

3. Pay close attention to closed-loop rectification of major hidden dangers. Organize supervisory personnel to learn and understand the criteria for determining major accident hazards, and organize a full coverage examination based on their certification. Work will be suspended for all major hidden dangers, and all work will be reported to the national platform. Lists will be handed over, reviewed and canceled. Work will not be resumed until rectification is in place. Collect accidents, hidden dangers and various information proactively reported by enterprises, analyze and issue risk warnings. Supervisors who perform their duties well, discover many hidden dangers, and close the loop in a timely manner shall be notified and praised, and priority shall be given to promotions.

4. Strengthen warning education for working at heights. In combination with industry responsibilities, we organize and produce warning educational videos in batches for high-fall accidents in the past three years one by one; new accidents that are larger or larger are produced within the prescribed time limit, and general accidents are produced based on actual conditions. Restore typical problems that caused accidents such as unfastening seat belts, climbing over guardrails, and slipping at edge openings, and uploaded them to the national platform to form a warning film library. Enterprises are urged to establish a list of personnel working at heights, organize workers to watch warning films, and carry out regular warning education.

5. Strictly investigate and handle accidents and strengthen the rigidity of penalties. Rapid accident reports should be uploaded to the national platform within 48 hours, and late reporting, omissions, false reports, and concealment of reports should be resolutely cracked down on. The report should be publicly exposed within 7 days after approval. Cooperate with the emergency department to investigate the accident, insist that the general contractor takes overall responsibility, and it is strictly prohibited to use the contractor as an agent. After being exposed, the temporary suspension of security certificates and ABC certificates should be completed within 90 days, the punishment results should be synchronized with the platform within 24 hours, and the crimes involved should be transferred to justice.

(2) Enterprises fully implement their main responsibilities

6. Improve safety production management systems and systems. Construction units must establish and improve a safety production management system, implement a safety production responsibility system for all employees, improve rules, regulations and operating procedures, build a dual prevention mechanism for graded safety risk management and control and hidden danger investigation and management, and implement standardized management of safety production. Subcontracting, illegal subcontracting and affiliation are strictly prohibited. The general contractor unit shall coordinate and manage the safety production of subcontracting units in a unified manner, and it is strictly prohibited to use subcontracting for escrow.

7. Allocate personnel in key positions for safe production. The construction unit must be equipped with project leaders, full-time safety management personnel and other safety management personnel that are suitable for the scale and risks of the project. They must hold safety production assessment certificates to work; special operations personnel must hold operating qualification certificates. Use the real-name system, labor contracts, and work-related injury insurance to identify the real employer, and it is strictly prohibited to separate persons and IDs, or to add up the number of certificates.

8. Ensure safe production funds and resource investment. The construction unit must calculate and allocate safety production expenses in full and on time, and shall not use them as competitive expenses, reasonably determine the construction period, and shall not rush the work; the construction unit shall ensure the investment of funds and resources, withdraw and earmark the funds in accordance with regulations, and give priority to protecting high-altitude protective facilities, equipment and lifeline hanging points. Implement on-site inspection, testing and maintenance of protective equipment, and the safety devices are complete and effective. Those who are not qualified are not allowed to enter the site, and construction is not allowed if the protection is not in place.

9. Implement engineering protection facilities. Implement "four entrances and five edges" protection, with railings, toeboards, and covers complete, vertical ladders equipped with protective cages as required, inclined ladders, and platforms inspected and listed; protection is included in the plan and process acceptance, and formalization and tooling are promoted. Monitoring is not allowed to replace engineering protection. The flat net will be folded with the bottom of the working layer, and flat nets, vertical nets, and dense-mesh nets cannot be mixed. On working surfaces with a large range of activities, lifelines and reliable hanging points should be set up. There should be no more than one person at each hanging point, and protection should be restored in a timely manner during process transitions.

10. Ensure the effective implementation of production safety systems. Construction units must strictly implement safety production systems, implement education and training and pre-shift briefings, strictly review and approve work at heights, strengthen on-site inspections and hidden danger investigations, suspend work for rectification of major hidden dangers, and cancel the number in a closed loop. The supervision unit must review special plans, verify protection and certification, and urge rectification of hidden dangers if they are found, and report promptly if rectification is refused. Ensure the continued and effective implementation of safety systems.

(3) Operators should standardize safe operations

11. Standardize the behavior of working at heights. Personnel working at heights should correctly choose and wear safety belts, helmets and other protective equipment, strictly abide by safe operating procedures, obey on-site management, wear safety belts in accordance with regulations, and are strictly prohibited from illegal and risky operations. Do not work when you are feeling unwell, drinking alcohol or tired.

12. Give full play to the safety mutual assistance role of the team. Construction units should promote mutual safety protection among teams, jointly confirm that protection is in place before operation, and remind and supervise each other during operation. If you find that workers are not wearing seat belts or safety helmets, or are removing protective gear without permission, promptly remind them to stop them. Team leaders take the lead in obeying rules and disciplines and taking the lead in stopping violations. They praise those who obey rules and disciplines and take the initiative to stop violations. Individuals who violate rules are dealt with according to the system.

13. Implement rewards for reporting and protect the right to evacuate. The local housing and construction department has established a reporting reward platform, the commercial finance department has included the funds in the budget, and the enterprise has simultaneously set up internal rewards. If reports of hidden dangers or violations are verified, rewards will be given, and whistleblowers will be strictly protected. If an emergency situation is discovered that directly threatens personal safety, the company has the right to stop operations and evacuate the danger area, and the enterprise shall not hold the company accountable or deduct wages and benefits.

(4) All parties in society strengthen the source of science and technology

14. Mobilize society to participate and take the lead. We insist on opening the door to safety, and encourage social forces such as scientific research institutes, equipment manufacturing companies, and industry associations to participate in high-fall protection technology research. We adopt methods such as unveiling lists and horse racing to focus on key issues such as lightweight and comfortable protective equipment, reliable hanging points, and intelligent monitoring. We clarify the direction of research and development, improve hooks, buckles, and speed differentials for easy access and quick attachment, and create a good atmosphere for the whole society to work together to prevent high falls.

15. Strengthen design source prevention and control. The design unit must adhere to safety priority and consider construction, use and maintenance safety from the source. The design plan should rationally arrange the process and give priority to solutions that can avoid or reduce work at heights; rationally set up structural safety hanging points and promote prefabrication and assembly of components; coordinate the risk of high falls in exterior decoration, maintenance and repair, cleaning and other aspects, and simultaneously design protective facilities and operating conditions to reduce risks from the source.

16. Promote advanced equipment and technology. Accelerate the promotion and application of advanced protective equipment and technological achievements, promote new technologies such as intelligent early warning and wearable protection, and develop mechanized and automated operations to replace high-risk manual operations at heights. Promote the implementation of research and development results, eliminate outdated process equipment, reduce high-altitude operations from the source, and effectively improve on-site protection capabilities.