Vice President of Vietnam General Confederation of Labor requests Nghe An to supervise collective kitchens in factories

Thanh Duy DNUM_BDZBBZCABJ 17:57

(Baonghean.vn) - Concerned about the health of workers, especially regarding the quality of workers' meals, Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (VGCL) Ngo Duy Hieu requested the health sector and the provincial GCL to continue to monitor collective kitchens in enterprises and factories in the province.

On the afternoon of November 13, the Inter-sectoral Monitoring Delegation on the implementation of policies and laws on occupational safety and hygiene in Nghe An province, led by comrade Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, National Assembly delegate, worked with the People's Committee of Nghe An province.

Working with the delegation on the side of Nghe An province were comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, representatives of leaders of relevant departments and branches. Photo: Thanh Duy

Number of work accidents decreased

In the period of 2016 - 2018, in Nghe An province, there were 76 occupational accidents causing 92 victims, of which 20 people died/17 cases, 56 people were seriously injured; causing material damage of more than 4.4 billion VND.

Compared to the period 2013-2015, in the period 2016-2018, there were 5 fewer cases, 8 fewer cases with fatalities, and 13 fewer deaths due to work-related accidents.

The main cause of work accidents is that businesses and employers do not provide safety and occupational hygiene training, and do not provide adequate personal protective equipment or ensure quality for workers. On the other hand, workers do not comply with regulations and safe working procedures.

Workplace accidents mainly occur in industries and occupations with many dangerous and harmful factors such as: mining, mineral processing, construction, industrial production, etc.

Nghe An Provincial People's Committee always pays special attention to inspection, examination and handling of violations of laws on labor safety and hygiene.

Evidence is that every year, many interdisciplinary inspection teams are established, and functional departments, branches and sectors are directed to strengthen inspection and examination of the implementation of regulations on labor safety and hygiene laws; thereby strictly handling violations.

Phó Chủ tịch UBND tỉnh Nghệ An Lê Ngọc Hoa phát biểu tại cuộc làm việc. Ảnh: Thành Duy
Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

At the meeting, members of the monitoring delegation also raised practical issues after supervising the compliance with laws on labor hygiene and safety at two enterprises in Nghe An, including one enterprise with 100% foreign investment capital and one domestic enterprise.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Ngoc Hoa affirmed that Nghe An province is interested in directing and organizing the implementation of tasks related to hygiene and labor safety; at the same time, accepting the opinions of the monitoring delegation.

The Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee also directed relevant departments and branches to carry out a number of contents such as: Consulting the province to authorize the Southeast Economic Zone Management Board to perform related tasks in this field within the Economic Zone, the Department of Health to study solutions to increase the responsibility of employers to organize periodic medical examinations for employees...

Concerned about workers' health and meal quality

Concluding the meeting, comrade Ngo Duy Hieu - Head of the monitoring delegation acknowledged the results Nghe An achieved in implementing policies and laws on occupational safety and hygiene.

Besides, in connection with the province's basic limitations on this issue, the Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor affirmed that the implementation of policies and laws on labor safety and hygiene is a major, important issue, a very basic task in the process of implementing and organizing socio-economic development tasks.

Đồng chí Ngọ Duy Hiểu - Phó Chủ tịch Tổng LĐLĐ Việt Nam kết luận cuộc làm việc. Ảnh: Thành Duy
Comrade Ngo Duy Hieu - Vice President of Vietnam General Confederation of Labor concluded the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

On that basis, after this monitoring period, the Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposed that the province conduct a general review of occupational safety and hygiene work in the area; pay attention to the propaganda and dissemination of policies and laws, which need to be deeper, broader, more specific and in more diverse forms to reach workers; strengthen inspection, examination, supervision and handling of violations in this field.

In particular, he is very concerned about the health of workers, especially regarding the quality of workers' meals, the Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor said that in reality, in many domestic enterprises, business owners are not responsible for this, while many vendors often choose workers and students to sell products that violate food safety and hygiene regulations.

"If the State management agency and the Trade Union organization do not supervise, no one will do the work for the workers," the Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor worried.

Ngành Y tế hướng dẫn thực hiện mô hình điểm cho một công ty tại Khu công nghiệp Nam Cấm. Ảnh tư liệu: Thanh Sơn
The Health Department guides the implementation of a collective kitchen model for a company in Nam Cam Industrial Park. Photo: Thanh Son

Therefore, at the meeting, the Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor proposed that in 2020, the Health sector and the Nghe An Provincial Confederation of Labor continue to supervise collective kitchens in enterprises and factories in the province; at the same time, suggested that the province pay more attention to State management of hygiene, health, and food safety of workers.

Thanh Duy