The Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, which came into effect on May 1 2002, was the first separate health law promulgated by the state in the 20th century. It aims to protect the health rights and interests of the broad masses of workers and stipulates various legal systems for the prevention, control and elimination of occupational diseases in China. The legal subjects of occupational disease prevention and control determined in this law are: government health and relevant administrative departments, employers who have occupational disease hazards, workers exposed to occupational disease hazards, and occupational health technical service units that undertake occupational health inspection, physical examination and occupational disease diagnosis. The law clarifies the administrative and civil legal relations between the four parties, and respectively stipulates their respective rights and obligations, legal status and legal responsibilities.
The Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases has established the strategy of "controlling the source of occupational hazards, giving priority to prevention, combining prevention with prevention, classified management and comprehensive management" in the prevention and control of occupational diseases in China. The responsibilities and obligations of the employer in the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases are clarified; It emphasizes that the health rights and interests of workers are protected by law; The responsibilities of the government health administrative department in the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases are stipulated; The functions of occupational health technical service institutions and the legal responsibilities of all legal subjects who violate the occupational disease prevention and control law.
The legislative purpose of the law on the prevention and control of occupational diseases is to prevent, control and eliminate occupational hazards, protect workers' health and related rights and interests, ensure the sustainable development of labor resources and promote social and economic development. The Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases stipulates the overall operation system of the national occupational disease prevention and control work, namely, government supervision and guidance, implementation guarantee by employers, self-discipline in safeguarding workers' rights and interests, social supervision and participation, and technical guarantee of occupational health services.
The Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases clarifies that the basic legal system for the prevention and control of occupational diseases in China is: occupational health monitoring system; The employer's responsibility system for occupational disease prevention and control; According to the catalogue of occupational diseases and the management system of occupational health standards; Protection system of workers' occupational health rights; Security system for patients with occupational diseases; Occupational health technical services, occupational accident emergency rescue, occupational accident investigation and handling, and occupational accident accountability system; Encourage scientific prevention and control. Eliminate backward technologies, processes and materials with serious occupational hazards, as well as occupational health supervision and technical service institutions and their team management systems.
The promulgation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases is an important step for China's occupational safety and health management to be in line with international standards, and it is also an important embodiment for our government to fulfill the conventions or commitments signed with the International Labor Organization, the International Organization for Standardization, the World Trade Organization and the World Health Organization in occupational health and safety management.
The Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases consists of seven chapters and 76 articles, which are divided into general provisions, prophase prevention, protection and management in the labor process, occupational disease diagnosis and protection of occupational disease patients, supervision and inspection, legal responsibilities and supplementary provisions.
Two. Relevant supporting laws and regulations of Occupational Disease Prevention Law:
In order to standardize the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, the Ministry of Health has successively issued a series of supporting health regulations and normative documents related to the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases. These include national occupational health standard management measures, occupational disease hazard project declaration management measures, construction project occupational disease hazard classification management measures, occupational health monitoring management measures, occupational disease hazard diagnosis and identification management measures, occupational disease hazard accident investigation and handling management measures, occupational health technical service institutions management measures, occupational disease classification catalogue, construction project occupational disease hazard factor classification catalogue and occupational disease hazard evaluation norms. In addition, the Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Pneumoconiosis in People's Republic of China (PRC), the Regulations on the Labor Protection of Female Workers, the Regulations on the Radiation Protection of Radioisotopes and Radiation Devices, the Regulations on the Labor Protection of Workplaces Using Toxic Substances and other relevant health regulations subsequently promulgated by the Ministry of Health are all part of the legal system for the prevention and control of occupational diseases, and have legal effect at the same time.
Three. Occupational health standards:
Occupational health standards are technical regulations on various health requirements of working conditions for the purpose of protecting workers' health, which can be regarded as technical standards. It can be adopted by the government and become the technical specification for implementing occupational health laws and regulations and the legal basis for health supervision and management. The Provisional Hygienic Standard for the Design of Industrial Enterprises, approved by the former State Construction Committee and the Ministry of Health 1965, is the first national standard related to occupational health in China, which stipulates the maximum allowable concentration of 85 harmful substances. After many revisions, this standard has become the hygienic standard designed by industrial enterprises.
198 1 year, China established a national health standards organization, including the Technical Committee of Labor Health Standards, and made great progress in the work of health standards. With the social and economic development of China and China's accession to the World Trade Organization, the occupational health standards must conform to international practices and requirements. Therefore, in 2002, China revised the Hygienic Standard for the Design of Industrial Enterprises into two standards: Hygienic Standard for the Design of Industrial Enterprises and occupational exposure limits of Hazardous Factors in Workplace. "Hygienic standard for design of industrial enterprises" stipulates the general hygiene requirements that should be considered in design, mainly including the limit value of physical hazards. Occupational exposure limits is a harmful factor in the workplace, mainly focusing on the chemical exposure limit. In addition, there are some important changes in the new standard. In addition to increasing the exposure limit of chemicals, the time-weighted average allowable concentration is also used as the subjective limit unit. In addition to the total dust, the standard of productive dust mainly requires the determination of respirable dust.
Four. International occupational health regulations and management:
Occupational health regulations and management are related to the history and system of the country, so the situation in different countries is very different. With the process of industrialization in Europe, Germany began to establish a social security system in the19th century to insure employees against illness, old-age insurance and work-related injuries, and promulgated the world's first accident insurance law (including work-related accidents and occupational diseases) on July 6th, 1994. In contrast, the management of occupational health by the federal government in the United States is still a recent thing. Before 1970, there were no national regulations, and some States did, but the degree of protection varied greatly from state to state. 1970, the U.S. Congress promulgated the Occupational Safety and Health Act, demanding that workers throughout the country be provided with safe and healthy working conditions.
In addition, some international organizations and academic groups have formulated occupational safety and health laws and regulations to ensure the health of workers all over the world.
With the global economic integration, occupational health regulations and management have become a worldwide problem. In the 1970s, industries in developed countries began to shift to developing countries. The World Bank report 198 1 says that Asia (except Japan), Latin America and Eastern Europe are emerging markets, and investment from developed countries accounts for two-thirds of local development funds. Industrialization has brought benefits to the economy and society of these countries, but it has also worsened the environment and damaged health. Many countries have no laws and regulations on labor protection, and even if they do, they lack management. They ignore occupational diseases and deny workers the right to compensation. The World Labor Organization estimates that 220,000 workers die and 654.38+25 million industrial accidents occur worldwide every year. WHO reports that there are100000 cases of occupational diseases in the world every year, almost all of which occur in developing countries. At present, the biggest challenge of occupational health (including environmental health) is in the international field.