(VOV) – The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Welfare today/ on Saturday held a conference to review 18 years of implementation of the Labor Code of Labor Safety and Sanitation and future tasks until 2020.

The participants agreed that despite due attention from the Ministries and sectors to labor safety and sanitation, this issue has seen a number of challenges over the past years. In 2010, 5,300 people had accidents at workplaces and this number increased to 6,150 last year with construction and mineral exploitation being the most risky job. The main causes are the increasing number of enterprises, outdated technology and workers’ awareness of this issue. Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Pham Thi Hai Chuyen said: "A large number of workers are not aware of protecting themselves at workplace. The number of inspectors of labor is not enough. Moreover, sanctions for labor safety violation are not strict enough, only a few serious cases were prosecuted. The laws on labor safety and sanitation are still overlapped which hinder law enforcement". 

 According to the Ministry of Health, so far, 58 occupational healthcare departments have been established. 8 provinces and cities set up workplace healthcare centers.