9th China-International Forum on Work Safety held in Hangzhou

On October 15 and 16, the ILO and Ministry of Emergency Management jointly co-hosted the 9th China – International Forum on work safety under the theme “Strengthen accident prevention and promote safe development”

Press release | Hangzhou, China | 16 October 2018
Beijing (ILO News) – For almost two decades, the ILO and the Chinese government have been working together to promote health and safety at work, and since 2002 the China - International Fora have served as an important platform for cross-border exchanges and cooperation in this field. This year, the 9th edition of this bi-annual Forum, gathered over 1,000 participants in Hangzhou, from more than 40 countries.

Chinese State Councillor Wang Yong speaks at the opening
In his opening remarks, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yong stressed the central place which was given to work safety in China’s economic development over the last 40 years. He emphasised that the transition from a high-speed to a high-quality growth brings with it new challenges in the area of occupational safety and health which the government is addressing. In her intervention, Alette van Leur, Director of the ILO Sector-Policies Department, recalled the remarkable progress made by China in reducing work-related injuries and fatalities over the last decades and invited the Chinese authorities to adopt new international standards in order to address current deficits in work safety.

Around 90 high level guests and experts shared their experience during the Forum’s two-day programme. National targets, measures and plans for occupational safety and health in a number of countries were presented including the US, Canada, Russia and Singapore. The International Association of Social Security and the International Association of Labour Inspection shared the latest trends, developments and policies in this field at regional and international levels.

Alette van Leur, Director of ILO Sectoral Policies Department
Accident prevention in the chemical sector and in coal and non-coal mining was the topic of dedicated sessions. The ILO Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises Project(SCORE) has been the subject of a special session. By focusing on health and safety standards, the ILO SCORE project aims at providing advice and tools to help small and medium sized enterprises in China to incorporate sustainability into their strategic business planning and operational management.

More on SCORE: /beijing/what-we-do/projects/WCMS_142938/lang--en/index.htm