(CNN) Apocalyptic scenes of the smoldering aftermath of successive explosions in Tianjin have once again illustrated the dangers of Chinese industry.

Lax safety procedures and oversight have been blamed for the blasts, which have killed more than 100 people and sent toxic fumes into the air, threatening even greater devastation.

President Xi Jinping has urged authorities to learn from the "extremely profound" lessons from the accident.

The State Council is rolling out a nationwide inspection of all businesses using dangerous chemicals and explosives. Meanwhile, China's public security minister says those found to be responsible for the Tianjin disaster "will be punished severely," according to state news agency Xinhua

The problem is China has seen and heard it all before, and the accidents keep coming, though figures from the Bureau of Statistics suggest that the rate of lethal accidents is falling.

What the figures show

In 2014, 68,061 people died on the job in China, according to the Bureau.

That's 186 people each day in a country of 1.3 billion -- and around 20% of the 350,000 global toll from "occupational accidents," as measured by the International Labor Organization in 2014.

By comparison, 12 are killed in the U.S. each day, in a country of 320 million, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The Chinese figures, though, appear to show the number of deaths is declining. For example, work accidents in industrial, mining and commercial sectors caused 1.328 deaths out of every 100,000 employees in 2014, the statistics said, down 12.9% on the previous year.

The figure is still too high for Chinese residents, especially when the accidents repeatedly include the threat of toxic contamination.

Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Smoke rises from debris on Saturday, August 15, near a crater that was at the center of a series of explosions in northeastern China's Tianjin municipality as seen from an aerial view. Hide Caption 1 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city The Donghai Road light rail terminal station in Tianjin, China, is seen covered in debris on Monday, August 17. Explosions at a chemical warehouse left more than a hundred people dead and hundreds injured. Fire officials say hazardous chemicals stored at the warehouse were ignited by fire, but the fire's cause is still being investigated. Hide Caption 2 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city A train with a smashed-up windscreen sits abandoned in the eerily deserted station on August 17. Hide Caption 3 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Smoke rises as damaged cars explode on Saturday, August 15. Hide Caption 4 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Firefighters work August 15 at the site of the explosions. Hide Caption 5 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Soldiers from the National Nuclear Biochemical Emergency Rescue Team launch a rescue mission August 15 at the core area of the explosion site. Hide Caption 6 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Smoke rises from debris on August 15 near a crater at the center of where the explosions took place. Hide Caption 7 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Scattered debris is seen August 15 at the site of the explosions. Hide Caption 8 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Volkswagens lie burned near ruined buildings on Friday, August 14. Hide Caption 9 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city An aerial image taken shows toxic smoke rising from debris in Tianjin, a sprawling port city of more than 13 million people about 70 miles from Beijing. Hide Caption 10 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Firefighters wear protective gear while working as partially pink smoke billows nearby. The environmental group Greenpeace expressed concern "that certain chemicals will continue to pose a risk to the residents of Tianjin," and city residents shared similar fears on social media. Hide Caption 11 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Rescuers are seen near the site of the blasts. A Chinese military team of nuclear and chemical were conducting investigations as pressure grew on authorities to explain the cause of the fire and the resulting cataclysmic explosions. Hide Caption 12 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Smoke from the explosion billows over destroyed cars. As of 2014, Tianjin was the world's 10th-busiest container port, according to the World Shipping Council Hide Caption 13 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Residents take their belongings as they evacuate from parts of the city. Managers of the warehouse facility have provided "insufficient information" about what was stored there, a city safety official said, though it is known that sodium cyanide, a highly toxic chemical that can rapidly kill humans exposed to it, was one of the stored materials.

Hide Caption 14 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Three men walk out onto the streets after being treated at a hospital on Thursday, August 13. Hide Caption 15 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city A Chinese police officer carries a man as civilians flee the area near the disaster. Hide Caption 16 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Fire and smoke is seen from a broken window of an apartment. Hide Caption 17 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city People walk among the crumpled remains of shipping containers. One of the explosions was estimated to be equivalent to 21 tons of TNT, or a magnitude-2.9 earthquake, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Hide Caption 18 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang called for "all-out efforts" to save the injured and minimize casualties, the state-run Xinhua news outlet reported. Hide Caption 19 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Over 1,000 firefighters were called in to put out secondary fires caused by the explosions. Hide Caption 20 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city People sleep in a classroom at a primary school used as a makeshift emergency evacuation center. Hide Caption 21 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city A bandaged man eats in a hospital in Tianjin. Hide Caption 22 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city A firefighter grimaces as he is examined for injuries. Seventeen firefighters were among the people killed, officials said. Hide Caption 23 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city An injured survivor is brought to a hospital following the explosion. Hide Caption 24 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city Fires continued to burn near the site of the explosions in the early hours of Thursday, August 13. Hide Caption 25 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city A photographer captures the plume of the second, and most massive, of the series of explosions. Hide Caption 26 of 27 Photos: Multiple explosions hit Chinese port city The initial explosion erupts Wednesday night, August 12 at a warehouse owned by Rui Hai International Logistics Co. Executives of the company were taken into custody, state media reported on August 13. Hide Caption 27 of 27

Spate of accidents

The blast in Tianjin follows a litany of industrial accidents that have left scores dead, and raised accusations that China has traded safety for cheap and rapid economic growth.

"China's growth in the chemicals industry has been extremely rapid in the last 15 years or so. It's grown from being a major importer to being a major producer of almost every single petrochemical you can think of today," said Ashish Pujari, senior director of IHS Chemical in Singapore.

"There are producers who are known to cut corners, in terms of regulation. There are very blatant examples of people constructing plants and almost getting into production even before the whole project has been approved.

"If you're to go into the U.S. -- the U.S. doesn't allow a single pile to be driven into the ground unless all the environmental regulations have been met and you have to have approvals for everything," Pujari added.

In April, an explosion at a paraxylene -- or PX -- factory in Zhangzhou caused panic as locals feared contamination of the city's water supplies. It was the second blast at the same site in two years.

The presence of PX near residential areas has lead to protests in other parts of China. PX, used in the production of plastic bottles and polyester clothing, is highly flammable and known to damage the central nervous system on exposure.

Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – Smoke billows from a large poultry processing plant in Mishazi Township of Dehui City in northeast China's Jilin Province on Monday, June 3. More than 300 workers were inside the plant when the fire broke out about 6 a.m., the state-run Xinhua news agency said. More than 100 people were reported killed in the fire. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – Family members of missing workers wait for information. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – People gather at the site of the fire, which an official says was started by an explosion. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – Two women wait for news about a family member. It took six hours to bring the fire under control. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – An injured worker is wheeled into a hospital in Changchun. Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – A nurse provides medical treatment to an injured worker who escaped the poultry plant. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – The interior of the poultry slaughterhouse is left in ruins. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant Deadly fire at Chinese poultry plant – Firefighters work at the accident site. A Xinhua news agency report says the plant's complicated interior structure and narrow exits have made the rescue work difficult. Hide Caption 8 of 8

In 2013, more than 100 workers died when a huge fire swept through a poultry plant in Dehui . Survivors said the doors were locked, preventing many from escaping.

At the time, state news agency Xinhua noted: "The complicated interior structure of the prefabricated house in which the fire broke out and the narrow exits... added difficulties to the rescue work."

What was in the Tianjin factory?

The lack of oversight is apparent in the questions being asked about what was being stored in Tianjin warehouse. Chinese authorities say they aren't sure, as the facility's managers provided "insufficient information."

Military inspections at the blast site Sunday revealed "several hundred tons of cyanide material" at two locations, said Major General Shi Luze. Authorities are checking customs records for more clues as to exactly what was being held.

The "cyanide material" was sodium cyanide, a highly toxic substance used to extract precious metals in the mining industry, among other uses.

"Sodium cyanide is a very toxic chemical. It would take about a quarter of teaspoon to kill you. Another problem with sodium cyanide is that it can change into prussic acid, which is even more deadly. So the whole business is trying to clean up this mess is difficult," chemical risk consultant David Leggett told CNN.

Environmental group Greenpeace said it believed other dangerous chemicals stored at the site included toluene diisocyanate and calcium carbide, citing a local monitoring station.

Leggett said he found it "hard to believe" there were only a handful of different types of chemicals in the Tianjin warehouse: "I would have expected a lot more than that," he said.

Angry residents demand answers

The questions that linger about exactly what Chinese authorities are dealing with makes the response even more difficult, Leggett added. How far should the exclusion zone extend? What risk is there to water supplies? Could the cleanup itself cause contamination to spread?

Regulations set by the State Administration of Work Safety state that facilities over 550 square meters that handle and store dangerous chemicals must be at least one kilometer away from public buildings and facilities.

It appears that didn't happen in Tianjin.

Locals are now asking why, after a series of lethal blasts, the Chinese government hasn't done more to protect them, when the horror of previous disasters are so well known.

After the blasts, the International Labor Organization said in a statement that it was confident the "root causes of the Tianjin accident would be thoroughly investigated and inspire a review of policies on major hazard control in China."

Pujari from IHS said China needed to improve on all three aspects of safety: regulation, implementation of that regulation, and training for all workers who deal with dangerous chemicals.

"If you had to ask all the (people behind the) investments that have gone up in the last 10 to 15 years to do an audit on a new set of regulations it could be a very big task," he said.

However, he said "this incident could force the industry and the government to invest in training."