Overcoming "loopholes" in discipline and labor safety regulations
According to statistics from the Department of Labor Safety (Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs) in 2023, there were 7,394 occupational accidents nationwide. Of these, 662 were fatal with 699 people. The number of people seriously injured due to occupational accidents was 1,720.
In the first quarter of 2024, there were serious incidents affecting the health and lives of workers.
A typical case is the case of more than 62 workers with pneumoconiosis at Chau Tien Limited Company in Nghi Loc District, Nghe An Province, which has shown many shortcomings and loopholes. In particular, the inspection, examination and supervision of occupational safety and hygiene is still not thorough, violations have not been detected or handled seriously.
According to the conclusion of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, the incident at Chau Tien Company Limited shows that the investment of resources by enterprises in occupational safety and hygiene, prevention of occupational accidents and occupational diseases is still modest, especially in small and medium enterprises.
Meanwhile, many enterprises have imported technology and equipment systems for decades, mainly importing key production technology and equipment, reducing safety and labor hygiene technology and equipment. This is an issue that needs to be carefully and scientifically evaluated to have comprehensive solutions and measures from policies, management to organization, implementation, both in the short term and in the long term.
Faced with the above situation, Director of the Institute of Labor Safety and Hygiene Nguyen Anh Tho assessed: "The work of inspection, examination and supervision of labor safety and hygiene is still lacking in depth, failing to promptly detect violations and safety risks, or if detected, the handling is not strict; lacking determination in requiring workers to properly and fully implement regulations, standards, procedures, regulations and technical safety measures".
Most recently, a particularly serious work accident occurred during the repair of a stone crushing line at the Cement Factory of Yen Bai Cement and Minerals Joint Stock Company.
The accident killed 7 people and injured 3 others. The initial cause was determined to be an electric motor failure of the crusher, which led to an accident for workers who were directly performing maintenance and repair work.
Subjective causes of work accidents can be overcome by wearing standard protective gear.
Faced with the above serious incident, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed Official Dispatch No. 39/CD-TTg dated April 22, 2024 to the Ministers of Public Security, Construction, Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs; Chairman of the People's Committee of Yen Bai province to promptly overcome the consequences and take measures to prevent similar accidents.
The Prime Minister also requested the province to direct the strengthening of inspection and examination work, promptly detect and handle violations of labor safety regulations in construction material production activities in the area, and absolutely not let similar cases happen.
The serious and heartbreaking incident above is not only an "alarm bell" for businesses and workers, but also points out many "loopholes" in discipline, safety regulations, labor hygiene, and accident prevention from both sides.
Through a practical survey, the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Science has pointed out 3 main groups of causes leading to occupational accidents, including: objective causes, subjective causes and causes from the working environment.
Objective causes are external factors that humans cannot decide, may not see, and cannot predict. This cause usually accounts for a very small percentage of about 3%. Usually, it is due to equipment that has been used for a long time and has not been regularly maintained, leading to damage or expiration. To overcome this, the management board and employer need to request the facilities department to check, maintain, and service machinery and equipment.
Subjective causes account for the majority of causes leading to work accidents, up to 73%.
These causes originate from negligence, careless and sloppy work. Units can completely overcome these subjective causes to avoid unfortunate incidents, such as: workers not wearing masks, not wearing protective gear; using lighters, cigarettes or flammable substances during work; incomplete machinery, equipment damaged during long-term operation without timely repair, loss of labor safety due to working beyond its function. No warning devices, lack of light; no fence design around the workplace. In addition, factors related to the working environment are also the cause of labor accidents such as dusty, toxic, dangerous environments...
According to Dr. Nguyen Anh Tho, to minimize accidents and limit damage to human health, employers, contractors, and investors need to regularly inspect and maintain machinery and equipment at the facility. Timely repair damaged machinery to ensure safety for workers during work. Provide professional training and provide full machine operation skills to workers before use, avoiding cases where workers do not know how to use the machine but still try to start it, leading to unexpected accidents.
In addition, units need to organize training sessions and exercises to raise awareness and quickly handle situations to reduce serious consequences. Use protective nets and fences at construction sites; at the same time, there are warning signs and fluorescent signs for people to easily recognize. In addition, every year, employers need to plan production, business and occupational safety and hygiene measures.
Ensure a safe environment and improve the quality of life for workers.
Besides the issue of occupational safety and hygiene, recently, ensuring a safe living environment and improving the quality of life for workers has also been an issue that has received much attention from all levels and sectors.
Vice President of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Ngo Duy Hieu said that the trade union organization and the Ministry of Public Security are making efforts to implement Regulation 04, coordinating to organize many specific activities to ensure a safe environment and improve the quality of life for union members and workers.
According to Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu, in recent years, due to the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lives of a number of union members and workers have been difficult. The lack of orders, lack of jobs, and job loss have led to a decrease in income, leaving many people in dire straits. Taking advantage of this, criminals have infiltrated and attacked, including high-tech crimes, credit fraud, black credit, drugs, and many other forms of crime.
Crimes related to social order and security such as intentional injury, fraud, and robbery have occurred in many industrial zones. Workers are victims but in some cases they are also the perpetrators of crime.
"In the context of focusing on building a modern and strong working class according to the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, the difficulties and inadequacies related to the issue of security and safety for workers pose many responsibilities for us. In order for workers to continue to be a great resource to carry out the cause of industrialization and modernization, the issue of ensuring security and safety for this force is a big challenge," Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu affirmed.
Safety training should be emphasized so that workers have the skills to protect themselves.
Mr. Ngo Duy Hieu said that the lack of safety in workers' lives is leading to many consequences, so many strategic and urgent solutions are needed so that workers can work in peace in the factory and return to their rented houses with a feeling of safety like coming home.
Identifying and specifying the characteristics of fraudster groups, Lawyer Nguyen Van Hau - Standing Member, Head of the Media Agency of the Vietnam Bar Federation said that fraudster groups often play on the psychology of victims, presenting situations that arouse the greed or fear of victims, for example, difficult-to-verify situations such as relatives having an emergency accident, the victim's bank account being locked, winning the jackpot... to be able to manipulate victims in a short time.
The subject often presents unclearly, using negative language to provoke emotions such as "only one chance left, critical situation, will come to search the house or arrest...". To increase persuasiveness, the subject will learn about the victim's relationships and know the names of the victim's close relatives.
Faced with increasingly sophisticated fraud methods, the Lawyer noted that people and especially workers and laborers working in industrial parks and factories with high population density need to equip themselves with the necessary legal knowledge, prepare a strong mentality and seriously perform an action, such as: Do not transfer money or provide personal information; always check the authenticity of the request before transferring money, providing OTP code, or E-Banking account information; set up social network account security with 2-layer authentication to increase security; do not enter personal information on unknown or unsafe websites...
To improve the effectiveness of coordination in combating high-tech crimes as well as preventing the risks of high-tech crimes against workers and laborers, Major Le Anh Tuan - Deputy Head of Division 5, Department of Cyber Security and High-tech Crime Prevention, Ministry of Public Security proposed many solutions, focusing on reviewing and researching to propose to the National Assembly, the Government and relevant ministries and branches to issue and gradually perfect the system of legal documents related to the prevention, suppression and handling of high-tech crimes.
Authorities and workers themselves need to promptly detect new methods and tricks of criminals to propose preventive and containment solutions.
According to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, compared to 2022, the labor accident situation in 2023 decreased in a number of key indicators, including the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of people with serious labor accidents.
Of which, fatal work accidents decreased by 8.06% (662 cases, down 58 cases), the number of deaths decreased by 7.29%; the number of accidents decreased by 4.2%, and the number of people suffering from work accidents also decreased by 4.7%.
Work accidents in the labor relations sector have a tendency to decrease sharply in the number of cases, deaths and injuries. Specifically, the number of cases with fatalities decreased by 11.44%, the number of deaths decreased by 10.92%.
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