Vocational disease cases drop by over half in a decade

China has slashed the annual number of reported occupational disease cases by 58 percent in the past decade, but illnesses linked to working overtime and heavy pressure in the information technology and other emerging sectors have risen and pose fresh challenges, health authorities said on Thursday.

Wang Jiandong, deputy director of the National Health Commission's department of occupational health, said during a news conference that the annual number of reported cases of occupational diseases dropped to around 11,108 in 2022 from nearly 26,400 in 2013, signaling significant progress made in stepping up occupational health nationwide.

However, Wang said that the drop does not represent the whole picture of China's occupational health situation because a large number of small enterprises have failed to carry out comprehensive health examinations for their employees.

"Meanwhile, occupation diseases caused by working overtime, inappropriate working habits and mounting pressure at workplaces have become more prevalent, especially in the information technology industry and new forms of employment," he said.

Zhang Meibian, deputy director of National Institute for Occupational Health and Poison Control at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that ride-hailing drivers, delivery couriers and other workers engaged in new types of jobs shoulder intense workload and face time limits.

"Although they are at lower risk of suffering conventional occupational diseases, some of them are at higher risk of traffic accidents and long periods of manual labor, meaning that they are more likely to develop muscle or bone diseases, as well as psychological issues," he said.

Zhang said that health authorities have made easy-to-understand guidelines and advocacy materials on preventing common illnesses among them so as to improve their health awareness.

"Employers have also been encouraged to provide convenient tools, such as loading and hauling equipment, so as to reduce physical exhaustion of workers," he said. "We are also working on modifying the Law on Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases and will include work-related diseases in the future."

China's catalog of occupational diseases, published in 2013, now contain 132 kinds of occupation illnesses belonging to 10 major types.

Since 2019, China has also stepped up monitoring of risk factors contributing to occupation illnesses, said health authorities.

For instance, Zhang said that free health examinations have been rolled out for workers at micro — and small companies in 500 county-level areas that contain serious dust hazards or have a large number of pneumoconiosis patients.

"Such work has helped accumulate data and promote early diagnosis and treatment of pneumoconiosis patients," he said."We have also provided guidance on improving occupational health management levels at small enterprises."

Wang Jiandong, from the National Health Commission, said that the falling number of occupational disease cases in the past decade has created some room for authorities to expand the catalog released in 2013.

"We have accelerated research on the feasibility of adjusting the catalog and will strive to release an updated version as soon as possible," he said.

wangxiaoyu@chinadaily.com.cn