In the future, cervical spondylosis and mouse hand syndrome may be included as recognized occupational diseases

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On February 16, a reporter from Qianjiang Daily learned from an interview with the Hangzhou Health and Family Planning Supervision Office that they had successfully completed the analysis of occupational disease prevention and control data for the year 2015 in the Hangzhou area. According to the analysis report from the health supervision authorities, in 2015, supervision agencies at various levels in Hangzhou received 5,257 occupational health examination reports from 3,065 enterprises. A total of 121,559 person-times underwent occupational health examinations, which represented a slight increase compared to previous years, with an upward trend observed from quarter to quarter. In 2015, the city received a total of 94 reports of newly diagnosed occupational diseases, of which 88 were from employers, while 6 cases involved individuals without employers (such as those whose employers had dissolved or gone bankrupt) or those for whom the labor relationship could not be confirmed. Based on statistical analysis by category of occupational diseases, the top three categories are pneumoconiosis and occupational ear, nose, throat, and oral diseases, followed by occupational chemical poisoning, accounting for 95.74% of the total. The number of cases of occupational diseases remains under control, and the types of diseases occurring are similar to those in previous years; they are mainly pneumoconiosis, accounting for 63.83% of the total. When encountering conditions such as pneumoconiosis and poisoning, many people find them unfamiliar; especially for white-collar workers, common illnesses like cervical spondylosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and related issues caused by using computers are the most prevalent \"occupational diseases\" among them. Why aren’t these included in the scope of occupational disease prevention and control by the relevant authorities? There is a broad and a narrow definition of occupational diseases: what ordinary people refer to as occupational diseases falls under the broad definition, while those that we focus on in terms of law enforcement are those defined under the \"Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Law of the People’s Republic of China\" – that is, diseases that occur in workers employed by enterprises, institutions, and individual economic organizations as a result of exposure to dust, radioactive substances, and other toxic or harmful factors during their work. ”Zhang Guojun, head of the Radiation Health Supervision Section at the Hangzhou Health and Family Planning Supervision Institute (Weibo), explained. Of course, the statutory list of occupational diseases is not fixed. According to Zhang Guojun, the first list of occupational diseases in China contained only 14 such diseases. As the society and economy have continued to develop, this list has been adjusted numerous times over the decades. The currently in force “Classification and List of Occupational Diseases” was issued on December 23, 2013, by four departments: the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the State Administration of Work Safety, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. It includes 132 diseases across ten categories, such as occupational pneumoconiosis and other respiratory diseases, occupational skin diseases, and occupational eye diseases. In fact, when updates to this version of the \"Classification and Catalogue of Occupational Diseases\" began in 2012, various reports emerged suggesting that diseases commonly suffered by white-collar workers such as mouse hand syndrome and cervical spondylosis might be included in the category of occupational diseases. There was strong support for this idea at the time, but some experts also expressed opposition. Lin Xianming, who was then the deputy dean of Zhejiang Zhongshan Hospital and a chief traditional Chinese medicine physician, said, \"It’s somewhat difficult to determine whether cervical spondylosis and mouse hand are occupational diseases.\" Taking cervical spondylosis as an example alone, it can be divided into five grades. Cervical spondylosis, which causes pain in the cervical spine, is a relatively common condition. However, it can also lead to various less obvious symptoms such as dizziness and compression of the sympathetic nerves, which are not easy to detect. ” Moreover, unlike occupational diseases caused by other toxic and harmful substances, cervical spondylosis is quite common among many people who work in office environments. And due to changes in ways of entertainment, many people continue to engage in activities that require bending their heads down even after leaving the office, such as playing games online or using smartphones with their heads down. It becomes difficult to distinguish between the damage caused by entertainment and work. At the same time, some business owners are concerned that if cervical spondylosis is classified as a statutory occupational disease, it will imply the need for compensation. With such a high prevalence of cervical spondylosis, how many companies will be able to afford to pay such compensation? Of course, there’s no need to feel disheartened; although conditions like cervical spondylosis and carpal tunnel syndrome, which are common among white-collar workers, have not yet been classified as statutory occupational diseases, as society and the economy continue to develop, protection for workers’ physical and mental health will become more comprehensive. Zhang Guojun says it is possible that in the future, office-related illnesses such as cervical spondylosis and carpal tunnel syndrome will be included among statutory occupational diseases.