Ensuring occupational safety and preventing occupational diseases

(Baonghean) - In recent years, the Nghe An Health Department has focused on promoting the work of ensuring labor safety and preventing occupational diseases. Every year, thousands of workers in the province receive periodic health check-ups and are educated and instructed on occupational disease prevention. Therefore, employers and workers are increasingly raising their sense of responsibility in complying with State regulations on labor safety and hygiene.

With the aim of protecting workers from the effects of harmful and dangerous factors and creating favorable working conditions to ensure workers' health, improve productivity and product quality; contribute to promoting the development of units and enterprises. In fact, occupational accidents (OAs) cause great damage to people and property as well as mental losses that are difficult to compensate for for many families and society, and at the same time affect the health and life of the community.

To limit occupational accidents and diseases and ensure occupational safety and hygiene, it is necessary to enhance the responsibility of all levels and sectors, especially the role of workers in protecting themselves and their colleagues, avoiding risks leading to occupational accidents; as well as strengthening preventive measures to ensure occupational safety and hygiene.

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

In recent times, the health sector and the provincial Preventive Medicine Center have focused on promoting the dissemination of circulars of the Ministry of Health on occupational safety and hygiene and occupational disease prevention to agencies, units, businesses and workers. From 2011 to present, the center has organized 13 training courses on occupational safety and hygiene, occupational hygiene, first aid training, and occupational disease prevention for 424 establishments with 729 trainees; who are employers and workers.

Since then, local businesses have developed typical solutions and models to ensure safety, prevent occupational accidents and diseases, and improve working conditions. Workers have raised their awareness to proactively and fully comply with regulations, procedures, and measures for occupational safety and hygiene; and equipped themselves with knowledge and skills for safe work.

Along with that, the Provincial Preventive Medicine Center organized 15 specialized training courses on skills to monitor the working environment and occupational diseases for 560 medical units with 607 trainees. In coordination with 83 production and business units, the working environment was measured and inspected. From 2013 to 2015, on average, the Center collected more than 3,000 samples of the working environment each year. The organization of periodic health check-ups and early detection of occupational diseases for units with toxic factors causing occupational diseases is also focused on by the health sector.

In the past 5 years, a total of 181 medical facilities and production facilities have organized periodic health check-ups; with nearly 65,000 workers at medical facilities and production facilities having undergone periodic health check-ups. At the same time, coordination was implemented with 24 labor facilities to organize occupational health check-ups; with 5,582 workers having undergone check-ups.

Officials from the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine inspect the working environment at MASAN MB One Member Co., Ltd. Photo: Dinh Nguyet

In addition, the Center has implemented first aid training for students who are employees in enterprises and units on hygiene and safety. Employees are examined to detect and classify groups of diseases with high risk of infection such as eye diseases, refractive errors, liver and gallbladder diseases, ear, nose and throat diseases, blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stomach and duodenum.

The preventive health system has also coordinated with relevant units to organize and implement an action plan to respond to the annual National Week of Occupational Safety and Health and Fire Prevention and Fighting, an action plan to prevent occupational diseases, injuries and accidents, and an annual community plan.

Occupational safety and hygiene is an urgent requirement for businesses, employers and employees; compliance is required to build a safe working environment associated with sustainable development. Therefore, in order to promote occupational health and occupational disease prevention, in the coming time, the Provincial Preventive Medicine Center will focus on the following solutions: Promote and diversify forms of propaganda; strengthen coordination in inspection and examination of occupational safety and hygiene. At the same time, continue to deploy training courses for medical staff, business owners and employees; expand the areas of coordination, increase the number of units and enterprises coordinating to deploy periodic health check-ups and occupational diseases...

Dinh Nguyet