How to prevent migrant workers from occupational diseases

A large number of migrant workers suffering from occupational diseases cannot be ignored. According to statistics, there are more than 16 million toxic and hazardous enterprises in China, and the total number of migrant workers exposed to occupational disease hazards exceeds 200 million, making them a high-risk group of occupational diseases. The most serious hazards are pneumoconiosis and acute and chronic poisoning of chemical substances. Taking migrant workers working in state-owned coal mines as an example, the prevalence rate of migrant workers receiving pneumoconiosis inspections is close to 5%, while the prevalence of migrant workers in individual township coal mines that rarely accept pneumoconiosis inspections is even higher. As of the end of 2006, a total of 676,562 occupational diseases were reported in the country, including 616,442 cumulative cases of pneumoconiosis, 146,195 deaths, and 470,247 cases. According to the statistical regulations on occupational diseases in China, there are still many occupational disease patients who have not yet entered the statistics.

In the face of this grim situation, we must persist in innovating institutional mechanisms and strengthening comprehensive supervision to protect the lives and health of workers. To this end, propose some countermeasures:

1. Strengthen the national monitoring mechanism in accordance with the law. First, all localities must implement the executive responsibility system for the prevention and control of occupational diseases, and include prevention and treatment of occupational diseases into the annual assessment targets of all levels of government. Formulate systematic occupational disease prevention and control plans for migrant workers in accordance with the law, and gradually close industries with high pollution, high energy consumption and serious harm to the health of workers; enterprises that are backward in processing, poor in production conditions, lack of implementation of protective measures, and serious occupational hazards must be thoroughly shut down. The second is to establish a long-term mechanism for coordination and accountability of departments. The relevant administrative departments involved in the examination and approval of construction projects shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, formulate examination and approval procedures for construction projects to ensure the implementation of the "three simultaneous actions" for evaluation of occupational hazards of construction projects, seriously investigate and punish the construction project design, construction and acceptance of construction projects without evaluation of occupational hazards. Such violations of the law shall be punished according to law for those who do not meet the requirements of state laws and regulations and occupational health standards. Without the approval of the health administrative examination and approval of construction projects that have serious occupational disease hazards, the relevant departments may not approve, approve, and record, and the industrial and commercial department will not register, and the bank will not provide loans so as to achieve control from the source. Third, it is recommended that the State should improve the corresponding policies and regulations that are conducive to strengthening the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases of migrant workers as soon as possible. Strengthen the supervision, carry out special rectification work on occupational diseases in enterprises, continuously improve the work environment, and regularly perform occupational disease diagnosis and inspection on migrant workers so that early detection and timely treatment can be achieved. The fourth is to establish inter-provincial occupational disease prevention and control cooperation and interaction mechanism, exchange information, exchange regularly, and establish a joint emergency response mechanism. Fifth, establish a four-level basic occupational health service system at the provincial, municipal, county, and township levels, increase investment in occupational health technical service agencies, especially the construction of grassroots occupational health technical service agencies, rationally allocate resources, and establish and improve township and township enterprises. Occupational health technology service system.

2. Establish a corporate occupational disease prevention and control responsibility implementation mechanism. The enterprise is the main body for preventing occupational hazards, and the legal representative of the enterprise is the first responsible person for occupational hazard prevention and control work. The occupational safety and health of migrant workers should be included on the agenda, work plans should be formulated, work measures should be implemented, and the principle of “safety first, prevention focused, and comprehensive governance” should be adhered to, and a long-term management mechanism for occupational hazards at workplaces should be established. Guide and supervise enterprises to strictly implement the national occupational safety and labor protection regulations and standards and improve the occupational safety and health environment. Strict market access conditions and supervision of law enforcement must strictly examine and inspect the occupational safety and health facilities for all new construction, reconstruction, and expansion projects, and strictly enforce the regulations for simultaneous design, construction, and production and use of the main project. All types of enterprises must sign labor contracts with migrant workers in accordance with the law. They should treat the migrant workers the same kind of health benefits as those of state-owned enterprises and regularly organize migrant workers' physical examinations. The relevant regulations on occupational safety and health in the "Safety Production Law" and "The Prevention and Treatment of Occupational Diseases" were implemented in the company's rules and regulations, collective contracts, and labor contracts.

3. Improve the education and training mechanism for migrant workers. First, within the scope permitted by existing laws, a rights and interests protection organization based on migrant workers is established to guide, train, and assist migrant workers to safeguard their own rights and interests, making it the most effective way to protect the interests of migrant workers themselves. The second is to compile publicity manuals for the prevention of common occupational diseases, strengthen the promotion of relevant laws and regulations, increase training, and improve the self-protection awareness of migrant workers. Migrant workers should actively study the law on the prevention and control of occupational diseases and sign labor contracts with employers. The occupational hazards and consequences that may arise during the work process, the correct use of protective equipment and the benefits to be enjoyed are clearly stipulated in the contract.

4. Improve the social security mechanism for migrant workers. The first is to speed up the establishment of occupational disease prevention and medical security systems for migrant workers, and accelerate the implementation of the "Peace Plan" for migrant workers. All localities must further strengthen the supervision over the labor relations of employers employing migrant workers in the area, establish and improve the peasant labor rights protection system, and focus on solving the social security problems of the migrant workers' "five risks and one gold". The second is to severely investigate and punish unethical employment practices that do not sign labor contracts and do not perform occupational disease prevention and control according to law, supervise and urge employers to fulfill their duty of reporting occupational hazards according to law, and apply for work-related injury insurance for migrant workers. And we must realize that the work-related injury insurance shifts from simply paying for occupational diseases to preventing occupational diseases, and effectively solves the issue of funding for the treatment of migrant workers who have suffered from occupational diseases and return home without money. Labor security and trade union organizations at all levels must also classify occupational disease prevention and control for migrant workers as the focus of human rights protection, promote the overall situation, and eliminate gaps. Third, it is recommended that governments at all levels establish a special fund for the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases to solve the practical problems of the current unhealthy medical treatment of patients with occupational diseases, rapid progress of the disease, and high mortality.

In addition, we must establish a sound social supervision mechanism for the prevention and control of migrant workers' occupational diseases.

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