Tianjin Explosion From Chemical Perspective: Insights and Backgrounds

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Going forward, it appears that China has the regulatory framework to ensure safety and environmentally friendly operations. Enforcement of the existing policies and regulations including penalties for non-compliance (as is the case in the Western world) is essential to prevent further incidents. Chemical companies operating in China must also emphasize the importance of complying with industry standards and must ensure that operational safety is not compromised as a means of achieving lower cost. This should include the necessary training programs for employees working with hazardous chemicals, along with stricter control on workforce qualification and certification processes.

Safety is Also a Matter of Costs

There is no doubt that efforts to enforce safety standards and regulations will likely have an impact on China’s cost competitiveness, however, this is a necessary step to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future. As costs rise, China’s chemical industry will need to change its course of past success as purely a low-cost producer, to growing its industry in a more sustainable way by focusing on quality, innovation, safety and services.

* The authors are Vice President, China Business Development, IHS Chemical and Vice President, Global Business Development, IHS Chemical respectively

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