Work safety given priority status HCM CITY — Local authorities have been pushing to promote a work safe environment, aiming at protecting workers’ health and businesses’ property, said online newspaper baotintuc.vn. Local authorities have been pushing to promote a work safe environment, aiming at protecting workers’ health and businesses’ property. — VNA/VNS Photo According to HCM City’s management board of industrial zones (IZs) and export-processing zones (EPZs), most businesses in the zones have been paying more attention to safety in the workplace than before. However, work-related accidents still happens at some businesses which have been ignoring health and safety issues. Last year, the city had more than 1,500 work-related accidents causing 1,350 injuries and 213 deaths, of which three cases happened in IZs and EPZs, reported the board. To reduce accidents this year, the municipal authorities have asked businesses and labourers to enhance work safety awareness. Phạm Huy Thông, the board’s deputy head, told the paper that “to limit accidents in workplaces, attention from both employers and employees is required”. “Employers must review production chains and working conditions as well as set up rules of workplace safety. They should also give safety training to their workers”, said Thông. "For employees, complying with rules on workplace safety will help protect them and the businesses as well," he said. In the Central Highlands Province of Đắk Nông, work safety has been enhanced in businesses of mineral exploitation and processing. The provincial Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Department, alongside businesses, focused on processing minerals of bauxite, soil, sand and rocks has invested in advanced equipment to increase productivity and ensure worker safety. The mineral exploitation industry must use industrial explosives; as a result, the local authorities have tightly controlled the activity of blasting mines. At present, there are dozens of quarries for exploiting rocks for construction materials in the province. The local authorities asked the quarry owners to follow regulations on blasting mines such as ensuring a safe distance from blasting locations to residential areas and regulating the number of explosives used. This was very important because there were several accidents related to blasting mines for mineral exploitation in the province recently, said Huỳnh Ngọc Anh, director of provincial Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Department. “Ensuring work safety in the mineral exploitation and processing businesses has been a priority”, said Anh. According to a survey last month from the Department of Work Safety under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), the construction sector was currently seeing the highest number of fatal work accidents, making up more than 20 per cent of the total amount of incidents across the country. The construction materials manufacturing sector ranks second with more than nine per cent of total fatal work accidents in the country. Falling from height is the main cause of fatalities in work accidents, making up more than 27 per cent. Electric shock is the second main cause with 13 per cent of the total number. The country saw close to 9,000 work accidents last year, killing 982 people and injuring more than 9,100 others, according to MOLISA. VNS