Spreading safety culture for minimizing occupational accidents
Comrade Ngo Duy Hieu – Vice Chairman of VGCL – delivers the opening remarks at the conference. Photo: Đ.V
In his opening remarks, comrade Ngo Duy Hieu – Vice Chairman of VGCL – stated that occupational accidents have been occurring annually, causing heavy losses of workers’ life and property.
According to statistics, in the years from 1996 to 2005, on average, there were 2,600 cases of occupational accident per year, in which around 260 deaths per year were counted. The number of accidents had increased over 200% in the period of 2006-2015 with 6,000 cases per year. The corresponding mortality rate was 600 death per year.
In the period from 2016 to 2018, there were generally 8,700 cases of occupational accident and 945 deaths each year, in which about 850 accidents and 280 deaths were accounted for sectors without labour relations.
The cost of medical treatment and workers’ compensation as well as property loss/damage was estimated to be nearly 1,500 billion VND/year. The total number of sick-leave days due to injury at work was over 120,000 days/year.
Moreover, according to the Department of Work Safety, in 2018, 7,997 cases of workplace accident were recorded nationwide with 8,229 victims, both in sectors with labour relations and sectors without employment contract. In the sectors with labour relations, the situation regarding occupational accidents had been improved compared with 2017, reducing both in the number of deaths and fatal cases. However, these data had increased about 18.6% in the sectors without employment contract.
Overview of the conference. Photo: Đ.V
In the current situation of occupational safety and health (OSH), the number of work-related accidents and deaths is increasing. Some experts and delegates at the conference singled working time out as the reason for this increment.
Labour power of workers in a working day has certain changes, which are regularity, called the cycle of labour power. During a working day, labour power goes through three phases, and occupational accidents often occur near mid-shift break (mid-day) and at the end of working shift (afternoon). At those times, workers usually experience the state of loosing focus mentally and psychologically, and reach their fatigue limit.
Moreover, the lack of designated OSH technical standards for specific industries are also direct factors.
Dr. Do Tran Hai – Director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health – speaks at the conference. Photo: Đ.V
Dr. Do Tran Hai – Director of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health – comments that alongside the above-mentioned factors, currently, in enterprises, the development of safety culture and prevention culture has not been popularized.
A OSH culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention.
“In order to prevent and reduce occupational accidents, in the time to come, it is necessary to build and popularize OSH culture nationwide. In this process, governmental agencies and the Trade Union play a significant role in creating a safe working environment, preventing occupational accidents and work-related diseases, sustaining labor force of workers and improving productivity”, said Dr. Do Tran Hai.
Biên dịch: Hoàng Phương
(Source: Vnniosh.vn)
