Beijing has tightened safety checks on companies that work with chemicals after two explosions at a warehouse in neighboring Tianjin last week, the local work safety bureau said.[Special coverage:Explosion rocks Tianjin]
Beijing has 2,536 businesses that handle harmful chemicals, including ammonia, methane and chlorine. They are mainly located in suburban districts, such as Fangshan, Daxing and Tongzhou.
There are 49 enterprises responsible for producing toxic chemicals.
A total of 2,487 companies buy and sell toxic chemicals, including 33 oil warehouses, 1,030 gas stations, and 64 companies that deal with highly toxic chemicals. Ten companies produce fireworks.
Following an inspection across 124 sites, hazards were discovered at 85 companies that stored dangerous chemicals.
Qian Shan, vice head of the Beijing Administrative bureau of work safety, promised swift action to improve the management of hazardous chemicals.
"The companies that failed our inspections will be ordered to suspend operation, and their warehouses will be put under 24-hour surveillance," he said.
On Thursday afternoon, a gasoline warehouse, a gas station, and the auto part area of an industrial park were visited by the safety watchdog.
Seven of the 18 firefighters working for the auto part firms were found to not hold licenses, and some personnel were not wearing protective clothing. As part of the inspection firefighters were also tested on how they would response to an emergency.
Last Wednesday night, there were two explosions at a warehouse in Tianjin Municipality where hundreds of tonnes of toxic chemicals were stored, including roughly 700 tonnes of sodium cyanide. So far 114 people have died, 648 are still in hospital and 69 are still missing.
A nationwide investigation into the storage of dangerous chemicals and explosives was launched following the incident.
