(ILO Viet Nam) – ILO Viet Nam and its tripartite constituents will celebrate the World Day for Safety and Health at Work and its 90-year anniversary on 28 April 2009 by organizing a seminar on World Day for Safety and Health at Work and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Promotion Activities. The objective of this seminar is to provide a forum for stakeholders including Government officials, social partners and OSH experts, related international development partners to celebrate the Day and to review the results of OSH promotion activities in Viet Nam in recent years.

The World Day for Safety and Health at Work is an international annual campaign to promote safe, healthy, and decent work held on 28th April of each year. The theme of this year is Health and life at work: a basic human right, with a focus on how countries can overcome safety and health challenges during the current financial crisis and jobs crisis. We must be particularly vigilant to ensure that strategies for adjustment and economic recovery do not follow a low road which devalues human life and safety at the workplace.

According to a recent ILO report, globally, every 15 seconds a worker dies from a work-related accident or disease, and every 15 seconds 160 workers have a work-related accident. It means that by the end of this day, nearly 1million workers will suffer a workplace accident and around 5,500 workers will die due to an accident or disease from their work. It would be rather big headline news if 5,500 people die each day in airplane crashes. But occupational accidents and work-related diseases mainly go unnoticed. The public generally does not hear about those who die at the workplace because they die one at a time, often in small towns, noticed only by their family, friends and co-workers.

In Viet Nam, according to MoLISA’s Bureau for Safe Work, more than 1.33 million workers and employers were trained on occupational safety and health in 2008, a 156 per cent increase from 2007. However, the numbers of reported accidents and deaths are still on the rise. A recent report by MoH found that only 18-20 per cent of high-health-risk enterprises are monitored on occupational environment. Only 22-25 per cent of the workforce has access to regular health checks and fewer than 10 per cent of workers in high risk work environments have access to occupational health checks.

“People everywhere are exposed to challenges of safety and health risks from their work. And, unfortunately, occupationally related accidents and deaths are on a rising trend. The total financial cost of these accidents and of the lowered health is considerable. The ILO estimates that it may cost as most as 4 per cent of global GDP. This is more than 20 times the global amount of official development assistance”, says Ms Rie Veij Kjeldgaard, Director of ILO Office in Viet Nam.

On this occasion, the Bureau for SafeWork and the ILO Office in Viet Nam have jointly organized a Children Drawing Day on Occupational Safety and Health on April 23th, 2009 to provide a chance for 100 pupils from 6 to 11 years old from Dai Yen Primary School to express their thoughts/imagination about OSH when they think about themselves at home and at school as well as their parents at work. Many great paintings have been produced by the small pupils. Some selected paintings are displayed at the seminar.

The above-mentioned seminar is organized in Hanoi by the Bureau for SafeWork, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in collaboration with the ILO Office in Viet Nam, within the framework of the ILO/Luxembourg Project for Enhancing Capacity of OSH Training in Viet Nam, with the participation of Mr Pham Minh Huan, Deputy Minister of MOLISA and Mr Marc Franck, Chargé d'Affaires from the Office of Development & Cooperation of the Embassy of Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg.

“Ensuring the safety and health at work is the responsibility and duty of all levels and sectors, of each and every body in the society”, said Ms Doan Minh Hoa, Director General of the MOLISA’s Bureau for SafeWork

Further information on the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, or resources related to occupational safety and health are also available.

For further information please contact:

Ms Le Thi Huong Lien
Communication Focal Point
ILO Office in Viet Nam
Tel: 37340902 ext 206
Email