On October 10, 2017, the Office of the Work Safety Commission of the State Council distributed the Circular on Fully Strengthening the All-staff Work Safety Responsibility System of Enterprises (the "Circular").
The Circular maps out arrangements in three aspects, to be specific, attaching great importance to the all-staff work safety responsibility system (WSRS) of enterprises, establishing and improving the WSRS, and reinforcing supervision and inspection over the WSRS of enterprises. Further, the Circular clearly states that the WSRS of enterprises should be designed and improved under laws and regulations, and that the persons mainly in charge of an enterprise should be responsible for establishing and optimizing the WSRS. Additionally, it is required that the work safety responsibility system shall cover all divisions and positions of an enterprise, with the responsibilities, scope and assessment criteria therein being concise, unambiguous, easy to be operated, and able to be updated in good time. Furthermore, the Circular stresses efforts to tighten supervision and inspection, impose penalties according to the law, and improve the "blacklist" system to include adverse records of work safety events. Any party that causes serious consequences as a result of its refusal to put into place the WSRS of enterprises should be subject to punishments, and such party should be announced to the general public regularly.
