Stories of workers who suffered from pneumoconiosis while working at a stone powder factory in Nghe An

Quartz dust is flying everywhere, the company does not give out masks

On May 29, Mr. Hoang Van Son (47 years old, Nghi Hung commune, Nghi Loc), was still being treated for pneumoconiosis at the Emergency Department, Nghe An Lung Hospital. Although he had to breathe oxygen and his body was very thin, Mr. Son was still quite conscious and could talk. Mr. Son is one of theEight workers who used to work at Chau Tien Company Ltd. were found to have pneumoconiosis within a short period of time.

This company is headquartered in Area A, Nam Cam Industrial Park (in the Southeast Economic Zone, Nghi Long Commune, Nghi Loc District). This is a company specializing in the production of stone powder, with a total registered investment of 280 billion VND. The company usually has about 30 workers.

Mr. Son said he started working at this company in October 2019, with a salary of only 6 million VND/month. Mr. Son worked at the stone powder mixing and packaging line. “Many rocks were crushed, brought to the lake to soak and then poured chemicals. After just a short time, they all turned pure white,” Mr. Son said.

“Every time we work, the dust flies up like smoke. However, the company does not buy masks for the workers, only gloves. When an inspection team is about to arrive, the company's leaders require the production lines that cause dust to shut down and stop working to clean or pretend to repair the machines. Only the stone separation part is still working normally because that place does not cause dust,” Mr. Son added.

Mr. Son is being treated at Nghe An Lung Hospital. Photo: Tien Hung

Mr. Son's wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, said that because the company did not buy masks for workers, she often bought them and reminded her husband to bring them. However, because she was subjective, she often only bought thin cloth masks. She did not expect the situation to be so serious. Since discovering that her husband was sick, Ms. Binh had to quit her job at the electronics company and go to the hospital to take care of her husband for nearly a year. All the property in the house also gradually "went away" after her husband was hospitalized. Currently, after each meal for her husband, she has to run to restaurants near the hospital to wash dishes for a living...

According to Mr. Son, after working at this company for nearly 3 years, in June 2022, he felt his health gradually decline. At the same time, he received information that Mr. Tran Huu Quang (37 years old, also residing in Nghi Hung commune, Nghi Loc), discovered that he had severe pneumoconiosis during a medical examination. Before that, Mr. Quang had also worked at Chau Tien Company for more than 3 years. Worried, many workers at this company, including Mr. Son, began to go for medical examination and were all found to have severe pneumoconiosis. Mr. Son was also taken to the Central Lung Hospital by his family, but because the disease was too severe, the layers of dust stuck thickly on his lungs, so it could not be washed away.

After a short period of treatment at the hospital, in September 2022, Mr. Tran Huu Quang passed away. More than 2 months later, Mr. Tran Trong Thi (48 years old, Nghi Phuong commune) and Mr. Pham Quang Son (27 years old, Nghi Thuan commune) also passed away. All 3 of these people had worked at Chau Tien Company for 2 to 3 years. Of which, Mr. Thi passed away less than 1 month after submitting his resignation. Mr. Quang had been out of work at the company for 2 years, and Mr. Son had been out of work for more than 1 year.

According to the reporter's investigation, most of the workers with pneumoconiosis used to work on the quartz powder production line.

Chau Tien Company Limited is located in Nam Cam Industrial Park. Photo: Tien Hung

Police involved

Also being treated at Nghe An Lung Hospital, Mr. Tran Ngoc Hoa (45 years old, Nghi Hung commune, Nghi Loc), still has difficulty walking and often has difficulty breathing. Not long ago, Mr. Hoa was taken to Hanoi by his family in the hope of having his lungs washed, but because his illness was too severe, doctors at the Central Lung Hospital were also helpless. Currently, Mr. Hoa's pneumoconiosis has also developed into tuberculosis. Mr. Hoa was sent home by the Central Lung Hospital, but he was not at ease at home, so a few days ago, his family took him back to Nghe An Lung Hospital to hold on to hope.

With a thin body and slow speech, Mr. Hoa said that he worked at Chau Tien Company Limited from September 2017 to December 2021. During that time, he worked on the quartz powder production line. “The company did not provide masks, nor did they require wearing them. I bought my own masks, if I wanted to wear them, I would wear them, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t,” Mr. Hoa said.

Mr. Hoa said that he only discovered he had pneumoconiosis a year ago, when he went to Nghe An Lung Hospital to take care of his cousin. Mr. Hoa's cousin was Mr. Tran Huu Quang - the first worker at Chau Tien Company to be diagnosed with pneumoconiosis and also the first to die. "When I came here to take care of my brother, the doctors said he had pneumoconiosis due to inhaling rock dust. I was worried so I went to get him checked out," Mr. Hoa said. However, like many other workers, Mr. Hoa's pneumoconiosis was now too severe.

Recruitment notice posted in front of the company gate. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Mr. Tran Ngoc Hoa and Mr. Hoang Van Son, the number of workers who used to work at Chau Tien Company Limited may not be just 8 people, but many more. "We know that many more people were also affected, including 3 people in Nghi Loc district, 1 more case in Quynh Luu district who also died. However, they did not submit a petition to the government like us, so they are not included in the reports," said Mr. Son.

Mr. Thai Dinh Lam - Deputy Director of Nghe An Lung Hospital said that so far the hospital has received 8 cases of pneumoconiosis residing in Nghi Loc district, who are workers who used to work at Chau Tien Company. However, when admitted to the hospital, these patients were all too seriously ill, most of whom could not have their lungs washed. "Currently, 3 cases have died, 3 cases with severe progression were taken home by their families. There are 2 remaining patients in the hospital, Mr. Hoa and Mr. Son. The doctors have tried their best but were helpless," Mr. Lam said and said that recently, Nghi Loc District Police also came to the hospital to get the patients' records to serve the investigation.

Previously, the authorities of several communes in Nghi Loc district received petitions from many workers about their health being affected after working at Chau Tien Company Limited, so they verified the information and reported it to the district People's Committee. Immediately after that, Nghi Loc district sent a report to the Management Board of the Southeast Economic Zone. According to this report, in Nghi Loc district, there were up to 8 people with pneumoconiosis who worked at Chau Tien Company Limited, of which 3 people died.

Inside Chau Tien Company, stone powder is still piled up. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the leaders of the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board, after receiving the report from Nghi Loc district, on March 2, 2023, the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board organized a working session with the participation of departments and branches: Department of Health, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, Provincial Labor Federation, Social Insurance of Nghe An province, Nghi Loc District People's Committee, General Director of Chau Tien Company Limited. At the meeting, representatives of the participating agencies agreed to request Chau Tien Company Limited to visit and encourage 8 families with employees working at Chau Tien Company Limited; Organize monitoring of the working environment at the company; Review employees who are subject to compulsory social insurance, immediately implement the payment of social insurance, health insurance, and unemployment insurance for employees.

The company's report said that the unit then visited the sick workers. Accordingly, the company supported 3 million VND for the deceased cases, and 2 million VND for the sick cases. Also according to the company's report, on March 15, the unit organized medical examinations to detect occupational diseases for 28 workers. "In addition, the company has also reviewed, inspected and implemented participation in social insurance and health insurance for employees working at the company; checked the hygiene of machinery, equipment, and the hygiene of the working environment at the workplace, supervised and reminded employees to fully wear protective clothing in production," Chau Tien Company Limited reported to the Management Board of the Southeast Economic Zone.

On May 15, the People's Committee of Nghe An province decided to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to inspect Chau Tien Company Limited. The team consists of 10 members including representatives of the Management Board of the Southeast Nghe An Economic Zone; Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; Department of Health; Nghe An Provincial Labor Federation;... The inspection team will work within 45 days from the date of announcement of the decision. The inspection content includes compliance with the law on occupational diseases; Working environment; Organizing monitoring of the working environment; Implementing social insurance and health insurance policies for employees.

To clarify the occupational safety issues that sick workers have reported as well as the medical examination results of 28 workers on March 15, Nghe An Newspaper reporters have repeatedly contacted the leaders of Chau Tien Company Limited but have not received any response.