HÀ NỘI — A nationwide labour inspection campaign was launched in Hà Nội on Friday by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

The year-long campaign focuses on labour safety in the mining sector and in construction material production.

From now until the end of the year, it will inspect labour safety measures in at least 500 mining enterprises and construction material manufacturers in 63 provinces across the country.

Inspectors from MOLISA will collaborate with leaders of provinces as well as with officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Ministry of Construction to conduct the inspections.

The campaign aims to reduce the number of fatal accidents due to mining activities from 19.5 per cent of total labour accidents in 2017 to 10-15 per cent this year, and the number of deaths from 18.2 per cent of total deaths in 2017 to below 10 per cent this year.

Although the campaign was officially launched Friday, MOLISA’s inspectors had started carrying out inspections since the beginning of this year, according to Nguyễn Tiến Tùng, MOLISA’s chief inspector.

So far, the inspectors, together with leaders of localities, have conducted inspections on some 240 enterprises, he said, and expressed confidence that more than 500 enterprises would be inspected by the end of this year, exceeding the campaign’s objective.

Tùng said he believed in the effectiveness of labour inspection campaigns since such a campaign had helped reduce the number of fatal accidents in the construction sector from 37 per cent to 20.8 per cent by the end of 2016 and to 19.7 per cent in 2017.

“It shows that inspection activities have had positive impacts on the construction sector for two years in a row, and we hope to do the same for the mining sector,” Tùng said.

He called for support from the media in making the inspection results widely known to the public.

Representatives from the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Việt Nam General Confederation of Labour also expressed their commitment to the campaign at the launch.

In the past five years, Việt Nam has recorded an average of 6,000 labour-related accidents every year, killing 570 labourers and injuring some 6,000 others. Mineral mining is among the sectors with the highest risk of accidents and occupational diseases. — VNS