The regulations were adopted at the 172th State Council executive meeting on March 28，2007 and promulgated upon the State Council Decree No．493 for implementation starting from June 1，2007．The regulations supersede the interim provisions on investigation procedure concerning major accidents issued on March 29，1989 and the reporting and treatment provisions on work injuries and death issued on February 22，1991．

　　The regulations are necessitated by the following circumstances：（1）Diversified ownership of production units presents new subjects of study；（2）Safe production faces stern situation，especially in coal mines，and production of dangerous chemicals，where accidents often occur：（3）Great changes have taken place in safe production supervision system，with local government shouldering increasingly heavy burdens；（4）Public concern on safe production has risen and voices are rising high for more effective measures to control accidents．

　　The Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council put the drafting of the regulations high on its agenda．It solicited views from central and local departments and carried out field studies before coming up with a draft version．

　　The regulations cover five major aspects：（1）Dividing accidents into four classes according to the number of injuries or death and direct economic losses．（2）Provisions on the reporter，procedures of reporting，main contents of reports and time limit for reporting，requiring the reports to be timely，accurate and complete．No unit or individual is allowed to delay reports，cheating in reports，concealing and missing reports．（3）Responsibilities of accident investigation，the principles of setting up investigation groups，units participating in investigation groups and functions and responsibilities of the investigation groups as well as the time limit and contents of investigation reports．（4）People’s governments are required to give reply to the reports filed by the investigations groups and related organizations should mete out administrative punishment or disposal on units and persons responsible for accidents according to the reply given by the people’s governments；units are required to put in place precautionary measures against accidents and departments concerned are required to strengthen supervision and checkup．（5）Legal responsibilities of units and persons responsible for accidents and the legal responsibilities of investigations group members，people’s governments and related departments for violating the provisions of the regulations．