China's top emergency management authority orders safety inspections

BEIJING, April 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Emergency Management on Wednesday ordered relevant departments to immediately launch inspections to discover safety loopholes at various locations and facilities.

At a meeting held Wednesday, the ministry emphasized that the inspections should focus on detecting safety problems in places such as hospitals, elderly care facilities, schools, kindergartens, entertainment venues and high-rise buildings.

Such locations must be examined one by one, according to the ministry.

The meeting also specified certain key safety risks, including using flammable materials in construction or refurbishment, blocking emergency exits and utilizing flame or welding equipment in breach of regulations.

It was noted at the meeting that several recent incidents, including a fire at a Beijing hospital, revealed problems in the work of detecting and eliminating safety risks, and serve as a grave warning.

Regarding the aforementioned safety risks, the National Fire and Rescue Administration and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism have jointly released a set of guidelines regarding the prevention of fire in venues for live-action role-playing games.

The guidelines require that after each and every round of a game, proprietors must examine the venues for possible elements that may cause a fire. A full sweep of possible sources of risk must be conducted on a monthly basis.