Work safety focus of international forum
By Jiang Zhuqing (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-09-03 00:42

China's economic and social development must match the level of work safety, a senior Chinese official urged Thursday.

The government will improve legal tools and adopt advanced technology and equipment to ensure workers' safety and strengthen the building of an emergency rescue system, said State Councillor Hua Jianmin Thursday at the opening ceremony of the Second China International Forum on Work safety.

China has always attached importance to work safety and occupational health as part of its overall plan on economic and social development, Hua said.

"Many developing countries ... are experiencing an increase in occupational accidents and diseases as a result of industrialization," said Christine Evans-Klock, director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for East Asia, in her opening speech.

The ILO estimates that some two million people around the world die each year from work-related injuries and diseases. Globally, 270 million fatal and non-fatal occupational accidents take place each year and some 160 million workers suffer from work-related diseases.

"The ILO has long collaborated with China in the field of occupational safety and health," said Evans-Klock.

New legislative developments on safety and health are very encouraging, she noted.

She said that the tripartite mechanisms in safety and health of China have been strengthened as employers and trade unions are also active in improving their safety and health programmes.

She said "China is very open in recognizing there is a further need they would like to achieve."

"To address the emerging safety and health issues of China, the ILO has been strengthening its technical co-operation programmes," she said.

Three approaches are being adopted.

First, the national occupational safety and health programme is being formulated with the technical collaboration by the ILO, she said.

Second, safety and health enforcement and training programmes in hazardous occupations, particularly in mining and construction, need to be strengthened.

Third, more workers and owners of small enterprises in China are to be trained by using ILO's Work Improvement in Small Enterprises Programme.

"Occupational safety is not a luxury that comes after a business or industry is profitable or has reached a higher level," she told China Daily.

Instead, the "improvement in safety and health at the workplace increases productivity and increases competitiveness of business," she said, adding that employers "can save the costs (incurred) by workers' being injured, medical expenses... in term of time lost by workers and can also gain access to new markets due to a good safety records."

Chen Gang, an official from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said China should learn from the lessons of developed countries, such as the United States, to crop up efforts in lowering the rate of accidents through adopting more preventive measures.

Besides, more legislative jobs are needed to encourage not only the government but also enterprises and workers to participate in the improvement of work safety and occupational health.

Co-sponsored by China's State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) and International Labor Organization, the three-day forum has attracted more than 450 people from governmental institutions, organizations and companies in 20 countries and regions.

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