Dr Nguyễn Anh Thơ, director of the Việt Nam National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Photo baotintuc.vn

Dr Nguyễn Anh Thơ, director of the Việt Nam National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health under the Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour, speaks to Tin Tức (News) newspaper about occupational safety and hygiene amid recent serious labour accidents.

A series of serious workplace accidents have been reported recently. How do you assess labour safety assurance at businesses and factories?

Many companies still think that investing in safety measures is a waste of money because they lack the proper perspective.

The Secretariat’s Directive No 29 issued on September 18, 2013 and other legal documents of the Government and the Prime Minister, all require businesses to create motivation and changes, thereby improving working regimes, welfare and rights for workers.

To comply with legal requirements, many companies still only adhere to the minimum level of occupational safety and hygiene, regardless of whether this has improved working conditions or guaranteed the lives and health of employees.

In the meantime, our labour market has entered a new period in which employees actively select their place of employment as opposed to employers doing so. The cornerstones for firms to draw in workers are working conditions, labour rules, and fundamental pay, health, and welfare programmes. Companies must be aware of this.

Businesses must deploy training for workers on occupational safety and hygiene. Has this been carried out effectively?

The best way to guarantee and enhance workplace safety is through training, which also helps employees better protect themselves.

The first occupational safety and hygiene action month which was held in 2017 after the Law on Occupational Safety and Health took effect on July 1, 2016, selected training as the main theme. Education and training have always been the foundation of all issues.

Training is also the most effective measure in labour safety work. It is also the most effective, least expensive, and most significant measure that requires the greatest attention.

Companies themselves aspire to provide high-quality services as well, but many safety-training organisations lack excellent instructors, material and certifications.

Despite good purposes, the practical implementation of the training has not met the needs. The people who experience the greatest disadvantages are workers.

Our clear and complete regulations have created conditions for businesses to build their own training networks.

If businesses can train their own lecturers, technical staff and on-site experts, and upgrade themselves to become safety trainers, the training will show effectiveness. This has been mentioned in the law. Many big corporations have currently adopted this strategy.

To guide and support businesses to do this, first of all, we need a new mindset and programmes to support businesses in building a team of lecturers, ensuring on-site quality instead of depending on external units.

Statistics show the number of work accidents among freelance workers is on the rise. What solutions do you think are needed to protect them from the risks of unsafe work?

Informal workers account for a large proportion of many different occupations. It is necessary to formalise this group of workers so that they are better protected.

Although the Party and the State have currently issued comprehensive guidelines, there are still restrictions ranging from guidelines to particular regulations.

In addition, to better protect the self-employed group, it is necessary to promote communication, training, and have national training programmes on occupational safety and hygiene skills.

It is important to build and introduce skills in self-care, treatment of minor injuries and how to take care of physical and mental health for freelance workers.

What solutions should be taken to improve the efficiency of occupational safety and hygiene assurance?

In terms of the overall solution, the legal policy must be examined for revisions.

Currently, if a business hires contractors to provide general services to the business, when an accident or incident occurs right at the business, the parties' responsibilities are unclear and no one accepts accountability.

Regulations and quality control over technological systems are required for both domestic and international investment projects from the outset of construction.

Monitoring will help inspect materials and technological systems that can cause incidents or accidents.

Local authorities also need to have appropriate plans to early control the incidents including fire safety, or chemical incident.

Nowadays, we have to face not only traditional risks but also new risks from biosecurity, atomic nuclear and even factors affecting the mental health of the workers.

Special attention needs to be paid to allocating resources to ensure occupational safety and hygiene at all levels in terms of experts, scientists as well as finance. We must train a team of experts, scientists and good safety managers to manage millions of future businesses and new industries.

The staff requires safety skills training. Particular importance should be given to safety culture. Businesses cannot assign workers who lack safety awareness to operate a technology system or material production system where even a small incident can lead to a disaster.

Humans are the most vital and must be the primary focus of training from the very beginning. VNS