ILO and the social partners in China are making joint efforts to improve the occupational safety and health in SMEs.

Occupational safety and health in SMEs is a major challenge facing China. There are around 42 million SMEs in China, most of which have little resources or capacity to attend to their OSH challenges. To improve the occupational safety and health in SMEs, the role of employers, workers and trade unions are essential in building preventative OSH culture which is the core for addressing workplace OSH challenges.

This is why the ILO and the China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) are joining hands in tackling workplace occupational safety and health challenges, targeting especially the SMEs. A two-day OSH workshop is jointly organized by the ILO and the CEC in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, the new manufacturing hub in the heartland of China. Representatives of 33 medium or small-sized companies, mostly in manufacturing sector, have been trained in both classroom and on-site in a factory, on how to use the ILO Ergonomic Checkpoints, which is a low cost and practical OSH tool developed by the ILO to help companies and workers address their OSH gaps.

This workshop is not the first time that Chinese companies are exposed to the ILO ergonomic checkpoints. In fact, this ILO OSH tool has been introduced to China in 2013 through the joint efforts of ILO, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU), National Institute of Occupational Health and Poison Control (NIOHP), and the other stakeholders. Since then, the number of Chinese companies that use ergonomic checkpoints is growing very fast. Though there is no data on how many companies in the whole country are using ergonomic checkpoints, the fast progress in provinces that have the data can show the popularity of this OSH tool. In Liaoning Province alone, more than 1000 companies have invested in improving workplace safety and health conditions through adopting the ergonomic checkpoints.

Having seen the practical effects of this OSH tool, Foxconn, the largest private sector employer in China employing over 1.2 million workers, launched a project in 2014, using the ILO ergonomic checkpoints, to improve its workplace safety and health.

More than 220 ergonomic checkpoints trainers have been trained in difference provinces. The pool of ergonomics trainers continues to expand. Local CDCs and trade unions are training of more trainers. These trainers are important source of expertise for ensuring the future sustainability of the promotion of this OSH tool.

Workplace cooperation is essential in addressing workplace OSH issues. Employers assume key responsibility for creating a safe and healthy working environment and, to do so effectively, must actively seek cooperation from workers in identifying and remedying workplace hazards, which may be different for men and women workers.

The CEC plays an active role in promoting CSR and has been working on OSH issues in recent years. It is expanding its OSH service for its members, including how to cope with the new occupational health risks. This is because the Chinese companies are faced with not only the traditional work safety challenges but also growing new types of hazards and risks, including workplace stress and musculoskeletal diseases.

Over the years, the ILO and CEC has worked together in training Chinese companies on several ILO OSH tools including Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) and Essentials of Occupational Safety and Health (EOSH). This workshop in Zhengzhou aims at help the CEC and its members understand the global OSH challenges, responses, especially the role and responsibility of employers in protecting workers’ health in line with C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), which China has ratified and C187 - Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187); expose the CEC members to the OSH tool and help them build the initial capacity to promote this OSH tool.