Experts Call for More Effective Labor Protection in China

As the heat wave sweeps through many parts of China, the wellbeing of outdoor workers has come in the spotlight following several deaths due to heatstroke.

Experts say now it's urgent for the government and employers to strengthen workplace labor protection, especially those working at grassroots level.

Zhang Cheng takes a closer look.

Many regions in southern China have been suffering the heatwave, with temperatures rising above 35 degrees Celsius, but many people have to continue working regardless - and with no effective protection.

Jin Huaijiang is a construction worker in Anhui Province.

"We work from 6:00am to 11am and then resume from 1:30pm to 6:30pm. The air in the construction site burns with the scorching sun. The steel pipe is scalding hot. But our employer provides no extra payment and protective measures for us."

Jin Huaijiang, also a migrant worker, says he and his fellow workers buy cold drinks to cope with the hot weather but some of them still show symptoms of heatstroke, such as headache and fatigue.

Elsewhere in northern China, the heat wave has caused tragedies among outdoor workers.

In Shandong Province, 8 workers have died from heatstroke in the capital city of Ji'nan.

The eight victims, all sanitary or construction workers, had spent long hours working under the scorching sun.
Experts say the workers's suffering shows how inadequate the labor protection situation is.

Cheng Yanyuan, a labor professor at Renmin University of China, says that China lacks a national level exclusive authority to oversee workplace labor protection.

She points out that the division of the responsibility among different departments makes it difficult to effectively implement relevant regulations on labor protection.

"The implementation of regulations is crucial for effective workplace labor protection. As to the supervision of companies, I think trades unions can play an important part, as can the government."

Richard Herd, a leading China expert with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, agrees.

"I think local governments, in particular health and safety inspectors, have to work with each company to make sure that the people who run them are aware of the importance of (workplace) safety and occupational health."

China has imposed a series of laws and regulations on work safety and labor protection. Employees are entitled to safe and healthy working conditions according to the Law on Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases.
The country has just labeled heatstroke as a kind of occupational disease in an effort to better protect outdoor workers.

Occupational diseases kill about 5,000 workers each year in China with lung diseases the most common and serious.

And about 25 million people, most of them migrant workers, regularly work with various kinds of occupational health hazards across the country.

For CRI, I'm Zhang Cheng.