Beijing (ILO News) The ILO and the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) jointly hosted a tripartite thematic seminar for commemoration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work in Binzhou, Shandong Province on 28 April 2023. The government, social partners, and enterprises voiced their collective commitments to the promotion of occupational safety and health for everyone at work in China.

The theme of the 2023 World Day for Safety and Health at Work is “A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right at work”. This theme has been chosen following the inclusion of "a safe and healthy working environment" as a fundamental principle and right at work at the International Labour Conference in 2022.

Every year, occupational accidents and diseases claimed around 2.9 million workers' lives globally and led to a 5.4 percent loss of annual global GDP. In addition, at least 402 million people suffer from non-fatal occupational injuries.

Occupational safety and health matters to everyone at work. China has made major progress in reducing death and injuries at work. Between 2005 and 2021, total workplace fatalities declined by 83%, and those in the coal mining sector were down by 98%.

"By making occupational safety and health (OSH) a fundamental right, the ILO is sending a clear message to governments and employers of all countries that they must take responsibility for providing a safe and healthy working environment for all workers," said Mr Chang Hee Lee, Director of the ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia.

Mr Li Shengli, Deputy Director-General of the International Cooperation and Rescue Department of MEM, said that China has revised regulations and policies and improved assessment mechanisms on work safety. The government has made great efforts on enhancing workers' awareness of safety and health at work.

Social partners play vital roles in the creation of a safe and healthy working environment. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) has put forward proposals in the formulation of nearly 200 regulations on occupational safety and health, said Lu Bin, Director of Work Safety Division of the Labor and Economic Work Department of ACFTU. Ms. Liu Hansong, Director-General of the International Liaison Dept. of China Enterprise Confederation (CEC), shared CEC's recent initiatives on promoting "work safety liability insurance" and disseminating good OSH practices among its members.

Officials responsible for emergency management at the local and provincial level of Shandong Province shared their approaches to establishing OSH systems centering on work safety and occupational disease prevention, organizing risk assessments in high-risk industries, and building an OSH service platform for the provision of psychological support for workers.

Improving the OSH compliance capacity of Chinese multinational companies in their overseas development is one of the topics that attracted wide interests from participants. Representatives of a few Chinese companies shared with the participants their observations on how to comply with the labour laws of host countries as well as their experience of fostering harmonious labour relations and community engagement.

Around 130 Chinese participants from the MEM and its local branches, social partners, enterprises, and OSH service providers participated in this event.