On December 2, the Yancheng Emergency Management Bureau released an investigation report on a foundation pit collapse accident.

At around 17:00 on June 4, 2021, located in the green belt south of Xuehai Road and west of the north gate of the Big Data Industrial Park in Yannan High-tech Zone, Yancheng City, a foundation pit collapse occurred during the construction of Section II of the Yancheng Urban Area Phase III Flood Control Zone Water Environment Comprehensive Treatment (including black and odorous water body treatment) PPP Project, resulting in 1 death and direct economic losses of 2.347 million yuan.

Accident Process

On the morning of June 4, 2021, Cheng arranged for Shang Muchun, Xu Moyang, and others to go to the W67-W68 pipeline construction site on Xuehai Road (Xihuan Road-East Main Canal) to clear the green belt above the pipeline in the excavation section. At around 15:00, Cheng rented a Xinyuan brand 75-type excavator to start earthwork excavation.

At about 15:45, construction worker Yang Mofei, while inspecting other locations, passed by Xuehai Road and found that the J-10 team was using an excavator to dig a trench. He immediately requested them to stop construction. At the same time, he posted a picture of the excavator construction in a mobile phone WeChat group and reminded subcontractor Shao and Wu Jin: "Excavator digging green belt on Xuehai Road, if it hits pipelines, bear the consequences yourself." Seeing no reply, Yang Mofei called Wu Jin to the site, prepared a "On-site Safety Production and Civilized Construction Inspection Form," had him sign it, and then left the site. Wu Jin asked Cheng to stop construction. Seeing the workers stop and pack up their tools, he also left the site.

Shortly after Wu Jin left, construction resumed on site. After the foundation pit (about 4 meters long, 2.5 meters wide, and 3 meters deep) was excavated to the required depth, Shang Muchun and Xu Moyang entered the pit to replace pipes. After replacing the first pipe, they returned to the ground to rest while the excavator cleaned the pit. At around 16:50, Shang Muchun and Xu Moyang re-entered the pit to replace the second pipe. At around 17:00, soil on the south side of the foundation pit suddenly collapsed. Shang Muchun was completely buried, and Xu Moyang was buried up to his waist.

Direct Cause

During the foundation pit excavation, construction management personnel gave illegal commands, and workers carried out construction blindly and took risks. Workers were operating in a foundation pit (about 3 meters deep) without effective anti-collapse safety measures such as slope protection. The soil on the south side of the pit collapsed, leading to the accident.

Personnel Recommended for Criminal Liability

1. Cheng, female, 55, head of the J-10 team of Liwei Labor Service Company. Without a special construction plan and without safety technical briefings for workers, she organized and implemented the foundation pit excavation and pipe replacement work, and failed to fully execute the stop-work order issued by the general contractor. She bears primary responsibility for the accident. As she is suspected of committing a crime, it is recommended that the public security organ further investigate and file a case.

2. Wu Jin, male, 24, on-site coordinator of the subcontractor. He failed to properly perform his duties. Without a special construction plan and without safety technical briefings for workers, he arranged personnel to carry out foundation pit excavation and pipe replacement, and failed to fully execute the stop-work order issued by the general contractor. He bears primary responsibility for the accident. As he is suspected of committing a crime, it is recommended that the public security organ further investigate and file a case.

3. Shao, male, 34, safety officer of the subcontractor. He failed to properly perform his duties. Without a special construction plan and without safety technical briefings for workers, he participated in organizing and implementing the foundation pit excavation and pipe replacement, and failed to report the safety activities and construction status of the pipeline construction team at W67-W68 on Xuehai Road (Xihuan Road-East Main Canal) to Zhong* Shanghang Company. He bears primary responsibility for the accident. As he is suspected of committing a crime, it is recommended that the public security organ further investigate and file a case.

(II) Personnel Recommended for Administrative Penalties and Internal Corporate Handling

1. Chen Mouwei, male, 59, legal representative of Liwei Labor Service Company. He failed to properly perform his duties. He managed poorly the company's organization of foundation pit excavation without a special construction plan, without conducting education and training for workers, and without safety technical briefings. He bears leadership responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that the Yancheng Emergency Management Bureau impose administrative penalties on him.

2. Cai Moujun, male, 46, project manager of the Yancheng Urban Area Phase III Flood Control Zone Water Environment Comprehensive Treatment Project of the subcontractor. He failed to properly perform his duties. He managed poorly the company's failure to organize the preparation of a special construction plan for foundation pit excavation, failure to conduct education and training for workers, failure to conduct safety technical briefings, and failure to assign full-time safety production management personnel to supervise on-site operations of dangerous large-scale projects. He bears primary leadership responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that the Yancheng Emergency Management Bureau impose administrative penalties on him.

3. Wang Mouzhi, male, 49, legal representative and general manager of the subcontractor. He failed to properly perform his duties, managed the Yancheng Urban Area Phase III Flood Control Zone Water Environment Comprehensive Treatment Project Department inadequately, and failed to urge safety production in the company. He bears important leadership responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that the Yancheng Emergency Management Bureau impose administrative penalties on him.

4. Sun, male, 40, chief supervision engineer of the supervision unit. He failed to properly perform his duties and failed to formulate effective supervision work plans tailored to the project's characteristics of "many points and wide coverage." He failed to detect and stop the construction unit's violations in a timely manner. He bears leadership responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that the Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau handle the matter in accordance with the law.

5. Yang Mofei, male, 26, construction worker of the general contractor for the Yancheng Urban Area Phase III Flood Control Zone Water Environment Comprehensive Treatment Project. He failed to properly perform his duties, on-site safety management was inadequate, and he failed to effectively stop the illegal and irregular construction by Jinyechen Company. He bears secondary responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that Zhong* Shanghang Company handle him in accordance with company management regulations.

6. Li, male, 38, project manager of the general contractor in Yancheng. He failed to properly perform his duties, and the unified coordination and management of safety production on the construction site were inadequate. He bears leadership responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that the Yancheng Emergency Management Bureau impose administrative penalties on him.

7. Yu, male, 47, general manager of Yancheng Water Environment Company. He failed to properly perform his duties, failed to strictly follow project construction procedures, and the unified coordination and management of the construction unit's safety production were inadequate. He bears leadership responsibility for the accident. It is recommended that the Yancheng Emergency Management Bureau impose administrative penalties on him.

Further Reading

This accident reminds the editor of an accident in Shanghai: the same foundation pit collapse, the same pre-accident reminders in WeChat groups, yet the tragedy still could not be prevented.

At the construction site of the commercial office project on Plot 18-03 of Qibao Ecological Business District in Shanghai, a local soil collapse occurred within a foundation pit, causing 3 deaths.

A few days before the accident, the supervision and construction parties repeatedly pointed out the risk of collapse in WeChat groups, but no effective measures were taken, and the tragedy still occurred. According to the investigation report, the project manager, on-site responsible person, and supervisor were all held criminally liable.

At 15:24 on December 25, Feng Mouyang, safety supervisor of the 18-03 Plot Project Department of the supervision unit, posted a photo of the north slope of Building 5 and the message "The upper and lower slopes have such a big height difference, has anyone arranged how to handle it?" in the WeChat group named "18-03 Plot Safety, Quality."

At 9:04 on December 27, Chen Moujun, safety officer of the 18-03 Plot Project Department of the general contractor, posted a photo and the message "The south side of the rebar shed needs slope cutting to reduce height; material stacking poses a collapse risk" in the WeChat group named "Qibao Wan* Project Team Group." At 9:10, he posted another photo and the message "There are still construction workers at the bottom of the foundation pit; immediate evacuation and measures are needed."

At 9:05 on December 27, safety supervisor Feng Mouyang posted a photo and text in the "18-03 Plot Safety, Quality" WeChat group: "This slope is 7-8 meters high from top to bottom, and people are working below. Are there any guarantee measures? I've been saying this, is no one answering?" At 12:41, he sent another message: "Building 5: stop excavating for now, first reinforce the edges."

On the morning of December 27, Tong Moulong, engineer of the 18-03 Plot Project Department of the general contractor, pointed out the collapse risk to project manager Gu Mouxang and, together with Zhang Moutang, on-site responsible person of Juliang Company, and another person, went to the site to inspect. Gu Mouxang arranged for personnel to remove some stacked materials such as rebar and timber. However, no warning signs were set up, and the operation site was not closed off.

At 13:18 on December 28, Gu, personnel of the construction unit, said to Tang Moufeng, civil engineering supervisor of the 18-03 Plot Project Department of the general contractor, in the WeChat group named "18-03 Wan* Construction Group": "Based on the photos from this morning, at several slope areas of the bottom slab work faces on site, control the edge soil height, slope cutting, warning lines, etc., to ensure the safety of workers in foundation pit construction." At 13:27, Tang Moufeng replied "Received."

Accident Handling:

The project manager, on-site responsible person, and supervisor are all suspected of criminal offenses, and it is recommended that they be handed over to judicial authorities to pursue criminal liability in accordance with the law.

1: General Contractor

Gu Mouxang, project manager of the 18-03 Plot Project Department, is suspected of criminal offenses, and it is recommended that he be handed over to judicial authorities to pursue criminal liability in accordance with the law.

It is recommended that 17 people, including engineers and safety officers, be given demerit records.

2: Professional Subcontractor

Zhang Moutang, on-site responsible person of the 18-03 Plot Project Department, is suspected of criminal offenses, and it is recommended that he be handed over to judicial authorities to pursue criminal liability in accordance with the law.

Five people, including technicians and safety officers, are responsible for the accident and should be handled according to relevant regulations.

3: Labor Subcontractor

Four people, including the brick mason team leader of the project department, are responsible for the accident and should be handled according to relevant regulations.

4: Supervision Unit

Feng Mouyang, safety supervisor of the 18-03 Plot Project Department, is suspected of criminal offenses, and it is recommended that he be handed over to judicial authorities to pursue criminal liability in accordance with the law.

Supervision engineers and others should be given administrative penalties or administrative measures.

In March 2021, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development further pursued accountability for the "12·29" relatively major collapse accident at the Qibao Ecological Business District 18-03 Plot Commercial Office Project:

Project director Dai Moudong. His registered supervision engineer practice certificate was revoked, and he is not allowed to register for 5 years;

Supervision unit. When it was found that the construction unit did not construct according to the special construction plan, it failed to fulfill its supervision duties according to relevant regulations and only requested rectification verbally and in WeChat groups. It was ordered to suspend business for rectification for 60 days, with the suspension starting from March 5, 2021.

In April 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development had already pursued accountability for this accident:

Project manager Gu Mouxang. His first-class constructor registration certificate for construction engineering was revoked, and he is not allowed to register for 5 years.