To protect his own rights and fight corruption, migrant worker Zhang Haichao took the extraordinary step of cutting his lungs open to prove he had the occupational illnesses pneumoconiousis. A representative of the hundred migrant workers from Hunan who got pneumoconiousis while working in Shenzhen doing pile-blasting and drilling on the city’s construction sites had the courage to fight for his rights by going to the root of the problem− filing an administrative lawsuit against the city’s Health Bureau for failing to adequately supervise heath and safety laws. And in August, the government ended its public consultation period for the Work-related Injury Insurance Regulations (see CLB’s submission, here). All of these issues helped bring much needed attention to the often-neglected issue of dust-based occupational illnesses – which needlessly kill tens of thousands of Chinese workers per year.
(A view of the Shenzhen skyline that the Hunan migrant workers, who are now suffering from pneumoconiousis, helped create. Photo courtesy of yuan2003)
It is not surprising therefore, that the State Administration of Work Safety, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the ACFTU, and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety jointly conducted a national teleconference about occupational illnesses related to air-borne dust and poisonous food products and launched a specialized campaign to fight dust-related occupational illnesses.
According to the Workers’ Daily, the campaign will start immediately and will end at the end of 2010. The campaign will include the following aspects:
• The State Administration of Work Safety will increase the scope of its enforcement.
• Manufacturing enterprises that have serious problems and that have not rectified themselves to meet requirements or have not fulfilled preventative safety conditions will be closed.
• The Ministry of Health will increase its network of occupational illness diagnosis centers, and by May of 2015 each county should have at least one hospital capable of conducting giving occupational illness inspections.
• The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (劳动保障部) will take further steps to standardize its labour management, and will promote migrant workers’ participation in employment injury insurance.
In addition to these goals, ACFTU Vice-Chairman Zhang Mingqi highlighted the fact that occupational illness has become a serious social problem, which primarily affects migrant workers. Therefore, he ordered each level of the union to organize and mobilize the masses of workers to launch a mass campaign (群众性活动) to engage in labour protection supervision. In addition, he urged an increase in the scope of workplace safety education, the building of platforms to reflect workers’ complaints, the effective curbing of serious occupational illness incidents, and the earnest protection of workers’ right to a healthy workplace.
Certainly, some aspects of this campaign give reason for optimism. Increased supervision and implementation of safety laws and standards is probably the most pressing need in China’s workforce today. Similarly, setting a goal to build more medical facilities that can diagnose occupational injuries is a good step (although it should be noted that only the diagnoses of qualified local medical facilities are legally valid in local courts, which results in a medical facility’s structural monopoly over the power to give legally binding diagnoses. The diagnoses of other hospitals out of the local jurisdiction, regardless of their prestige and expertise, are not legally valid. Thus, corruption between local bosses and hospitals is rampant).
Nonetheless, one of China’s most significant governance problems is that, stemming from the Mao Era of non-stop mass political campaigns, many regular administrative operations still function using the outdated model of “Governing Through Campaigns” (运动治国). Under this model, a campaign’s time and duration is set, top-down standards and targets are identified, mass campaigns are planned, and the extent to which the campaign actually succeeds depends on the enthusiasm level at each government layer. If one layer of the corpulent bureaucracy stops caring or is derelict in their duties, the results at the grassroots are minimal. Furthermore, the government departments mentioned above already have an obligation to implement and enforce the law, and a campaign to increase the intensity of and scope of their duties shouldn’t really be necessary, and one could even argue that it doesn’t comply with the spirit of “rule by law” (依法治国).
Yet despite all of these structural problems, at least many government departments are making efforts to place badly needed attention onto the issues of dust-related occupational illnesses. From that point of view, Zhang Haichao and the Hunan workers’ brave struggle might have already had a wider impact.
(A view of the Shenzhen skyline that the Hunan migrant workers, who are now suffering from pneumoconiousis, helped create. Photo courtesy of yuan2003)
It is not surprising therefore, that the State Administration of Work Safety, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the ACFTU, and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety jointly conducted a national teleconference about occupational illnesses related to air-borne dust and poisonous food products and launched a specialized campaign to fight dust-related occupational illnesses.
According to the Workers’ Daily, the campaign will start immediately and will end at the end of 2010. The campaign will include the following aspects:
• The State Administration of Work Safety will increase the scope of its enforcement.
• Manufacturing enterprises that have serious problems and that have not rectified themselves to meet requirements or have not fulfilled preventative safety conditions will be closed.
• The Ministry of Health will increase its network of occupational illness diagnosis centers, and by May of 2015 each county should have at least one hospital capable of conducting giving occupational illness inspections.
• The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (劳动保障部) will take further steps to standardize its labour management, and will promote migrant workers’ participation in employment injury insurance.
In addition to these goals, ACFTU Vice-Chairman Zhang Mingqi highlighted the fact that occupational illness has become a serious social problem, which primarily affects migrant workers. Therefore, he ordered each level of the union to organize and mobilize the masses of workers to launch a mass campaign (群众性活动) to engage in labour protection supervision. In addition, he urged an increase in the scope of workplace safety education, the building of platforms to reflect workers’ complaints, the effective curbing of serious occupational illness incidents, and the earnest protection of workers’ right to a healthy workplace.
Certainly, some aspects of this campaign give reason for optimism. Increased supervision and implementation of safety laws and standards is probably the most pressing need in China’s workforce today. Similarly, setting a goal to build more medical facilities that can diagnose occupational injuries is a good step (although it should be noted that only the diagnoses of qualified local medical facilities are legally valid in local courts, which results in a medical facility’s structural monopoly over the power to give legally binding diagnoses. The diagnoses of other hospitals out of the local jurisdiction, regardless of their prestige and expertise, are not legally valid. Thus, corruption between local bosses and hospitals is rampant).
Nonetheless, one of China’s most significant governance problems is that, stemming from the Mao Era of non-stop mass political campaigns, many regular administrative operations still function using the outdated model of “Governing Through Campaigns” (运动治国). Under this model, a campaign’s time and duration is set, top-down standards and targets are identified, mass campaigns are planned, and the extent to which the campaign actually succeeds depends on the enthusiasm level at each government layer. If one layer of the corpulent bureaucracy stops caring or is derelict in their duties, the results at the grassroots are minimal. Furthermore, the government departments mentioned above already have an obligation to implement and enforce the law, and a campaign to increase the intensity of and scope of their duties shouldn’t really be necessary, and one could even argue that it doesn’t comply with the spirit of “rule by law” (依法治国).
Yet despite all of these structural problems, at least many government departments are making efforts to place badly needed attention onto the issues of dust-related occupational illnesses. From that point of view, Zhang Haichao and the Hunan workers’ brave struggle might have already had a wider impact.
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