Notice on the 2016 Publicity Week Campaign for the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases issued by the State Administration of Work Safety

Thread Content

Notice on the 2016 Publicity Week for the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases issued by the State Administration of Work Safety, Document No. Guo Wei Ban Ji Bing [2016] 375: To the Health and Family Planning Commissions, Departments (Bureaus) of Human Resources and Social Security, Work Safety Supervision Bureaus, and Trade Unions of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; to the Health Bureau, Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Work Safety Supervision Bureau, and Trade Union of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; and to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention: The period from April 25 to May 1, 2016, marks the 14th Publicity Week for the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases. In order to further promote and implement this law, raise awareness regarding occupational disease prevention and control, and create a favorable social atmosphere, the 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 have decided to jointly organize the 2016 Publicity Week for this law. The theme of this publicity campaign is “Healthy China: Prioritizing Occupational Health”. The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows: First, all local authorities and relevant departments must fully recognize the importance of carrying out the Publicity Week for the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases. They should regard these publicity activities as an essential part of preventing, controlling, and eliminating occupational disease hazards and protecting workers’ occupational health. They need to provide strong leadership, make active plans, organize and implement these activities carefully, allocate the necessary funds, avoid mere formality, and develop specific implementation plans based on actual conditions to ensure that the publicity week activities are effectively carried out. The key topics for promotion include: laws and regulations such as the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, along with related rules and standards; the legal responsibilities of employers in preventing and controlling occupational diseases and the supervision of occupational health in workplaces; the rights to occupational health protection that workers are entitled to under the law; systems for occupational health examinations, monitoring, diagnosis, and assessment of occupational diseases; insurance benefits for workers suffering from occupational diseases; general knowledge on the prevention and control of common occupational diseases; and measures for promoting the health of working populations. II. All regions should adopt a combination of centralized and regular publicity efforts. While making full use of the advantages of traditional media such as radio, television, and newspapers, they should also actively leverage new platforms and channels such as the Internet, Weibo, WeChat, and the 12320 hotline to widely promote and use recommended promotional phrases (see Attachment 1). This will help disseminate knowledge regarding the prevention and control of occupational diseases as well as occupational health, thereby making such publicity more accessible and widespread. Employers should, in conjunction with efforts to improve occupational health infrastructure, create healthy workplaces, and develop healthy enterprises, make full use of electronic displays, bulletin boards, slogans and banners, internal websites, text messages, and other means to carry out promotional activities and interactions, thereby increasing participation in such initiatives and expanding their reach and impact. Occupational disease prevention and control agencies, occupational health technology service institutions, community health service centers (stations), and township health clinics should actively participate in publicity efforts, integrating their regular occupational health services with these promotional activities, and take an active part in the various events organized during the National Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Law Publicity Week. III. All regions should closely focus on the publicity theme, highlight key points, and emphasize practical results. By taking into account local conditions, innovative methods of publicity should be developed, and appropriate strategies formulated to strengthen efforts in raising awareness regarding the key occupational disease hazards, as well as the specific populations and industries at risk in the region. A long-term mechanism for publicity and education should be established; in particular, outreach activities should be carried out in areas with high concentrations of mobile populations such as enterprises, stations, and markets, in order to increase overall society’s awareness of and understanding of the Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Law. After the event, all regions should pay attention to summarizing the achievements, experiences, and issues of the publicity week activities, promptly identify advanced practices and typical examples for promotion, and strengthen information reporting. By June 10, 2016, they must submit reports on the progress of the publicity activities along with the statistical forms (see Attachment 2) to the relevant departments. The progress of the awareness week activities will be used as an indicator to evaluate regional efforts in the prevention and control of occupational diseases. **Contact person at the National Health and Family Planning Commission: Tian Fang. Phone: 010-68791820. Contact person at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security: Qiu Mingyue. Phone: 010-84208257. Contact person at the State Administration of Work Safety: Li Jing. Phone: 010-64463002. Contact person at the All-China Federation of Trade Unions: Gao Feng. Phone: 010-68591847. Office of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, Office of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Office of the State Administration of Work Safety, Office of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. April 14, 2016