Scientific anh technological development strategy for OSH of VGCL for 2013- 2020

Dear delegates and distinguished guests

OSH is a major socio-economic policy of our Party and State. OSH includes many activities, such as building, issuing and implementing the laws, regulations and policies, strengthening the management and inspection, researching and applying the scientific and technical solutions, promoting the dissemination of information, the training and the organization of OSH activities, in which science and technology is an important content.

The Trade Union of Vietnam has a great role and responsibility in OSH activities. It has been assigned by the State to manage the National Institute of Labour Protection (NILP), the only agency of OSH in Vietnam.

In implementing the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy for the 2011-2020 period (according to the Decision 418/QD-TTg dated April 11, 2012 of the Prime Minister): Main scientific and technological directions, goals and tasks for the 2011- 2015 period, on July 27, 2012 the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour and the Ministry of Science and Technology signed an agreement to implement a programme of coordinated activities in science and technology for the 2012-2020 period. The important target of the programme is: “To promote some directions for basic and advanced research among the sectors of technological sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and humanities to develop the arguments and provide a scientific foundation for building the national strategies and programmes, regulations and policies on social security and protecting the rights and benefits of the working class and labourers”.

In implementing the coordinated programme, the presidium of the VGCL has assigned the NILP to carry out the task of building the “Scientific and Technological Strategy for OSH for the 2013-2020 period and vision to 2030 to increase the effectiveness of the OSH and protect the workers’ health in the period of national industrialization and modernization”. This is a very important task, especially after the issuance of the Resolution 20-NQ/TW dated October 31, 2012 of the 6^th Session of the 11^th Party Central Committee on “Development of science and technology for industrialization and modernization in the conditions of the socialist-oriented market economy and international integration”, and after the success of the 11^th Congress of the Trade Union of Vietnam. So the construction and successful implementation of the scientific and technological development strategy for labour safety and hygiene for 2013-2020 is significant in protecting and developing the human resources, contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

In the context that our country is promoting industrialization and modernization, many new occupations with particular strains and unknown harmful effects can cause new risks for the workers’ health; many steps of production with new technologies using the new toxic chemicals generate risks for the safety and health of the workers. It may be said that in the past time the labour protection in general and the scientific and technological research for labour safety and hygiene in particular still showed many shortcomings and limitations, failing to meet the development requirements of the country. The technological boom in the world, the process of globalization and international integration and the urgent need for improving the effectiveness of the labour protection in our country have set many great challenges to the scientific and technological research for OSH:

Firstly, there is a need to complete the laws, strengthen the State management of OSH and the effectiveness of the management at grassroots level;

Secondly, the new requirements related to integration and the criteria of an industrialized country that our country is striving to become by 2020 must be met. It is the trend of building a safety culture and a prevention culture in production combined with environmental protection;

Thirdly, the scientific and technical advances in different sectors of the national economy not only create the conditions to basically change the solutions for labour safety and hygiene, but also create a new approach to solve the problems more effectively and thoroughly than the previous solutions;

Fourthly, the market rules must be applied to promote the formation and diversification of the scientific and technological market for OSH (in the context of promoting the construction of a real scientific and technological market in general), paying special attention to diversifying and socializing the resources for implementing OSH;

Fifthly, performing the function of representing and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the workers, the trade unions should renew their activities and promote the application of the scientific and technical breakthroughs on labour protection and environmental protection in production to help develop the production and protect the workers’ health.

Dealing with the above-mentioned challenges is a very difficult task of the labour protection in general and the scientific and technological research for OSH in particular. Especially, in the context of the current economic recession, the construction and implementation of a reasonable scientific and technological strategy for OSH, which is both feasible and effective, is also a challenge.

The construction of the scientific and technological strategy for OSH should closely follow the viewpoints  and goals of the Resolution 20 of 6^th Session of the 11^th Party Central Committee and the Scientific and Technological Development Strategy issued by the Government, at the same time effectively implement the specification of the goals, contents and tasks in the programme of collaborated scientific and technological activities between the VGCL and the MOST. Focus should be placed on the implementation of the following tasks and research:

1. Promoting and supplementing the research to help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the State management of labour protection and develop the regulations and policies on labour protection; Focusing on the research to help develop the Law on OSH and complete some models of the State management of  OSH and adaptive models in the production facilities, in the direction of modernity and unity. Researching and gradually completing the tools of management, monitoring, analysis and evaluation of OSH;

2. Researching the scientific basis to ask for the Government’s promulgation of the norms and standards on OSH and supplementation of the new occupational diseases to the list;

3. Promoting the research and application of preventive solutions to industrial accidents and occupational diseases and scientific and technical solutions to protect the environment, working conditions, occupations with high risks of occupational accidents and diseases, such as the construction of high-rise buildings, underground mining, chemicals and new materials, etc. At the same time, due attention must be paid to the issues of particular work, such as female workers, disadvantaged and disabled employees, fishermen and defence workers, etc.;

4. Researching the scientific basis to build and develop the models: Cleanness culture and safety culture in productive labour;

5. Researching and developing the methods and tools for statistics and assessment of occupational accidents;

6. Researching the effective methods to popularize and disseminate the knowledge of OSH, encourage the masses to participate in the movements and activities of OSH and promote the role of the trade unions in labour protection;

7. Researching the issues of improving the working conditions at the small and medium enterprises, in the craft villages and in the unstructured labour.

In addition to the tasks and research directions of the strategy, one of the inseparable important issues is the resources to implement the strategy. The implementation of the strategy requires:

Dear comrades,

This workshop, on the one hand, presents the outlines of the scientific and technological development strategy for OSH by 2020 and vision 2030, on the other hand, specifies the peculiarities of the Central region. Similar workshops will be held in the South and the North.

The workshop is attended by scientists, managers, entrepreneurs and representatives of the professional organizations and trade unions. I believe that the opinions, analysis and discussions at the workshop will be an important contribution for the workshop to achieve its goals.

I wish all participants good health.

I wish our workshop obtain good results!

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