Employers must strictly comply with labor safety regulations.

On the afternoon of June 18, the Provincial People's Committee organized a dialogue conference between the provincial occupational safety and hygiene council and enterprises of Nghe An province on occupational safety and hygiene and labor policies and regimes.

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, chaired the dialogue session with representatives from the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Provincial Labor Federation, Provincial Social Insurance, and Southeast Economic Zone.

Attending the conference were more than 30 business units in the province..

Overview of the conference. Photo: Duc Anh

Avoid the situation of "closing the barn door after the horse is lost"

According to the report of the Council Secretariat, before the conference, there were more than 100 comments from 33 agencies, units and enterprises, belonging to 6 groups of issues related to occupational safety and health, policies and regimes for workers in the area.

Speaking at the dialogue, comrade Dang Cao Thang - Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said: "In recent years, the state management of occupational safety and health, policies for workers have been increasingly implemented in a systematic and methodical manner. Dissemination, propaganda and training work have been gradually innovated, diversified and enriched. Inspection and examination of occupational safety and health, policies for workers have been strengthened, and their effectiveness and efficiency are being improved."

The provincial Occupational Safety and Health Council will directly answer questions from businesses at the dialogue conference. Photo: Duc Anh

Since then, according to the Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, enterprises and production and business establishments in the province have been aware of and seriously implemented regulations on occupational safety and health; developed and organized the implementation of periodic occupational safety and health plans; clearly defined the responsibilities of departments in occupational safety and health training; inspection and declaration work for factories and equipment with strict requirements on occupational safety and health have been carried out by units with attention.

The Deputy Director of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs wishes: “At the dialogue conference, business units need to clearly state the difficulties and obstacles encountered in the process of implementing regulations on occupational safety and health at their units so that the council can listen and then propose solutions. Thereby, lessons can be drawn, avoiding the situation of “closing the barn door after the cow has been stolen.”

Officials from the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine inspect the working environment at Nghe An Sugarcane Company Limited. Photo courtesy

Speaking at the dialogue, a representative of Vicem Hoang Mai Cement Company said: The company's difficulties in ensuring occupational safety and health are mainly due to the company's production technology equipment having been degraded after more than 20 years of operation, and production, troubleshooting, and repair pose many potential safety risks.

Nghe An Electricity also commented: The rural low voltage grid has been degraded since it was received, but it has not been able to be upgraded due to limited capital. Currently, the company has experienced but old workers, so they often suffer from occupational diseases, leading to unsafe working conditions.

The system of documents is still overlapping and inadequate.

Besides, many opinions say that the regulations on training are overlapping and duplicated, making the process of ensuring occupational safety and health difficult.

Ensuring occupational safety and health in mineral exploitation units is always highly valued. Photo: Document

Dividing training subjects into too many groups (6 groups) makes it difficult to classify and organize training. For businesses that do not have a self-training function, it is very difficult to open the first training class when recruiting new employees.

Responding to these comments, comrade Le Ngoc Hoa said: Every unit and enterprise must have its own occupational safety and health program. Regarding the issuance of occupational safety certificates, he requested that relevant departments and branches update new policies to make appropriate adjustments.

The conference was also heated with many opinions on policies for workers. Typically, policies for workers with occupational diseases; or individual policies for workers whose employers abuse the insurance fund. Regarding this issue, the representative of the provincial Social Insurance said: Diseases covered by Social Insurance must be in the list of occupational diseases regulated by the Ministry of Health.

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa concluded at the conference. Photo: Duc Anh

The representative of the Social Insurance Agency also said that the agency has punished employers who abuse and misappropriate employees' insurance funds. If employees want to close their books to change their workplace when their current employer misappropriates the insurance fund, the provincial Social Insurance Agency will implement individual policies to ensure the rights of employees.

The conference recorded 9 opinions exchanged and discussed by management agencies. Through the dialogue, a lot of information was shared, answered and discussed to continue to improve and enhance the effectiveness of the implementation of the legal system on occupational safety and health, and policies for workers.

At the conference, the Provincial People's Committee awarded Certificates of Merit to units with achievements in implementing occupational safety and hygiene in the province in 2018. Photo: Thanh Nga

Concluding the dialogue, comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested: In the coming time, the council members need to innovate the content and form of propaganda, dissemination and education of laws on occupational safety and health, policies for workers. At the same time, step up inspection and examination of the implementation of legal provisions on occupational safety and health, policies for workers.

Employers must strictly comply with the provisions of the law on occupational safety and health, policies for workers. Inspect, supervise and urge workers to strictly comply with labor regulations. At the same time, strictly comply with the recommendations and conclusions of inspection and examination teams to ensure the best safety for workers.