To further enhance the emergency response capability for the traffic accidents involving hazardous chemicals, a drill was held successfully in the Hubei-Jiangxi Tunnel of Yuexiu (Hubei) Daqing-Guangzhou South Expressway G45 on the morning of December 22, 2020.
The drill was organized by Yuexiu Transport and undertaken jointly by the People’s Government of Tongshan County, Xianning City, Hubei Province and Yuexiu (Hubei) Company. He Baiqing, General Manager of Yuexiu Transport, served as the general director of the drill, which received strong support from the local government, the Department of Emergency Management, the Administration of Expressways and the Expressway Police Corps of Hubei Province. The leaders present at the drill included Hu Qirui, a level-2 inspector of the Department of Emergency Management of Hubei Province; Shen Qiwen, deputy mayor of the People’s Government of Tongshan County; Zhang Xuehua, Commander of the Expressway Police Corps of the Department of Public Security of Hubei Province; Qiao Liang, a leader of the Administration of Expressways under the Department of Transport of Hubei Province; Zhu Chuanbao, COO of Yuexiu Transport, and Zhang Yong, General Manager of Yuexiu (Hubei) Company.
The participating team was composed of the people seconded from 14 units, including Yuexiu (Hubei) Company, the Administration of Emergency, Bureau of Ecological Environment, Fire Brigade and the People’s Hospital of Tongshan County, Xialu Brigade of the 2nd Detachment of Expressway Police, the 7th Brigade of Wuhuang Road Administration Detachment and Daqing-Guangzhou South Project Department of CRBC. The drill was staged against the background of a traffic accident in the Hubei-Jiangxi Tunnel of Daqing-Guangzhou South Expressway, which involved a bus colliding with the rear of a vehicle containing hazardous chemicals, causing personal injury and leakage of liquid chlorine. The drill proceeded under a series of scenarios, including submission and circulation of accident information, joint emergency response by police, expressway, local government and enterprises, emergency commands, onsite disposal of hazardous chemicals, traffic control, medical rescue, environmental monitoring and lift of emergency, etc. During the drill, the participating units reacted quickly under clear duties, collaborated seamlessly and responded effectively. The actual practice examined the planning, trained the team and received the unanimous recognition of relevant leaders and experts, thus accumulating precious experience for future improvement of the ability to respond to emergency.
Mr. Hu Qirui recognized the drill and offered suggestions on behalf of the expert panel. He pointed out that the drill made scientific estimation about the safety risks of the expressways in mountainous areas and had high practicality. All units worked together closely, took effective joint actions and showed the professional capability of responding to emergency during the drill, effectively reducing the risk of onsite accident and excellently completed the emergency drill. He also hoped that all units can gain a deeper understanding of the importance of integrated local joint action in responding to accidents that involve hazardous chemicals, further increase the difficulty in the drill for such accidents and enhance the sense of responsibility and sense of mission in making sure that expressways are safe and unblocked.
General Manager He Baiqing of Yuexiu Transport delivered a summary speech. He first fully recognized the achievements of the drill and hoped that Yuexiu (Hubei) Company can take into account the opinions of the experts to further improve the emergency planning, organization and preparations to effectively strengthen the capability of responding to emergency. Meanwhile, he pointed out that since the turn of the year is prone to production accidents, safe production is at stake and the tasks are heavy; it is always necessary to be highly conscious of the need for safe production and careful summarization of experience; the following three tasks should be fulfilled: Firstly, make in-depth investigation into risks, rectify hidden troubles, strictly implement the working mechanism of “1 line and 3 rows” and give priority to prevention to nip safety risks in the bud; secondly, make preparations for emergency, focus on the important nodes of New Year’s Day and the Spring Festival, and ensure the availability of emergency rescue personnel, equipment and supplies; thirdly, strengthen organizational leadership, assign the responsibilities of safe production, intensify watchkeeping, supervision and inspection, take strong measures to ensure the continuous stability of the safe production, the successful completion of the 13th Five-Year Plan and create a safe and stable environment for the smooth beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan.