Characteristics of typical hazardous chemical accidents in China in 2016 and discussion on countermeasures

The characterization of 27 typical hazardous chemical accidents happened in China in 2016 were summarised, including occurring time, occurring regions, accident types, hazardous chemical categories and accident occurring stages, etc. The results showed that the hazardous chemical accidents were still frequent and the threats were still large in 2016. The peak time was during April to July and risky area was where petrochemical industries located. Fire, explosion and poisoning were main types of accident; gas, explosives and flammable liquid must be controlled critically, while non-flammable nontoxic gas could not be ignored. The loopholes, misplacement and improper behaviors in management were the "culprits" to induce and aggravate the accidents. To control such accidents, we must strengthen the safety management of enterprises, improve the emergency response system for hazardous chemicals, implement the responsibility for safety production of hazardous chemicals enterprises, and popularize the basic knowledge of safety and protection of hazardous chemicals.