Dozens of workers with pneumoconiosis in Nghe An receive compensation

On January 25, a representative of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said,Chau Tien Company Limited(located in Nam Cam Industrial Park, Nghi Long, Nghi Loc), has just made paymentCompensation for 21 workers with occupational diseases, with a total amount of nearly 1.4 billion VND.

These 21 people are on the list.22 casesdiscovered to have pneumoconiosis while still working at the company. In one case, the occupational disease was not medically assessed and therefore was not compensated.

In addition, also on January 24, Chau Tien Company Limited supported and paid for other medical expenses and occupational disease treatment for 28 other cases with a total amount of 365 million VND. Accordingly, those who still have invoices and documents will receive 100% support, while those who do not have documents or have unreasonable documents for examination and treatment of occupational diseases will only receive 50%.

In March 2024, Chau Tien Company Limited paid compensation to relatives of workers who died from occupational silicosis. Specifically, the company paid compensation to relatives of deceased workers including: Tran Huu Quang, Tran Trong Thi, Pham Quang Son, Tran Ngoc Hoa and Hoang Van Son (all residing in Nghi Loc district) with a total amount of more than 560 million VND.

According to the reporter's investigation, of the more than 110 people who worked at Chau Tien Company in the period 2017 to 2023 who were examined, 71 people were found to have occupational lung disease. However, to date, only 67 people have been examined for reduced working capacity. The remaining 4 people have not yet come to the assessment center for examination despite having been invited.
Of these, only 22 people were identified as having occupational diseases before leaving Chau Tien Company Limited; 45 people were identified as having occupational diseases after leaving their jobs.

Regarding these 45 people, a representative of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said that in the Law on Labor Safety and Hygiene, Circular No. 28/2021/TT-BLDTBXH dated December 28, 2021 of the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Law on Labor Safety and Hygiene on the regime for employees with work-related accidents and occupational diseases has not yet specified the employer's responsibility for compensation. Therefore, on July 29, the Department sent a dispatch requesting guidance from the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. "On August 23, 2024, the Department of Labor Safety (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) sent a response dispatch. However, the dispatch only briefly stated that it was requested to comply with the provisions of the law," he said.

“For workers at Chau Tien Company who have quit their jobs and then discovered their occupational diseases, there are no regulations on the employer’s responsibility. Therefore, it is very difficult for us to ask the employer to take responsibility for compensation, allowances, medical expenses, and examination costs to determine the level of reduced working capacity. This is also very disadvantageous for some workers,” added a representative of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Meanwhile, many workers on the list of 45 people disagree with this view. “We saw a series of workers who used to work here die, so everyone was scared. That’s why we quit our jobs to go for medical check-ups because we felt our health was gradually deteriorating. Because during the time we worked there, the company did not organize medical check-ups for workers to detect occupational diseases for many years. We just kept working there, waiting for the company to detect occupational diseases, who knows when. That was the company’s fault, not ours,” said a worker who contracted an occupational disease after quitting his job.

Similarly, another person said that if Chau Tien Company followed the regulations and regularly organized occupational disease examinations for workers, many workers would not have asked for leave to go for medical examinations. “Even though we found out about our occupational disease after we quit our jobs, if we had not worked there, we would not have contracted this disease. If the company had complied with the law, we would not have had to suffer from this terrible disease. It is not right to say that we will not be compensated now,” this person said.