China's 1st Annual Safety and Health Management Summit 2002

Introduction:

ICOH was invited to participate in China’s 1st annual safety and health management summit. This was held in Shanghai on June 27th and 28th, 2002. Professor Hua Fu, as special consultant for ICOH Board, was delegated to represent ICOH. There were advantages in having him attend on behalf of ICOH, and this included familiarity with the region, closeness to the conference venue, and being ICOH’s special consultant for China. After the summit conference, Professor Fu Hua sent us the following report:

Summary Report:

As a consequence of rapid economic development, China faces great challenges in terms of occupational safety and health. Companies in China tend to put more attention on production targets, possibly at the expense of health and safety. Occupational safety and health management systems in industries have been weakened; and many joint-venture and private enterprises ignore workers’ safety and health. In 2000, there were 10 770 accidents with 11 681 deaths in industries and mining, and 16 205 cases of occupational diseases. These events that occurred in joint-venture and private enterprises accounted for 58% and 67% of mortality and morbidity for the whole nation respectively.Faced with these problems, the government of China promulgated the Occupational Disease Law, and the Work Safety Law this year. Also in this year, China was accepted into the World Trade Organisation ( WTO) and as a result of this, enterprises in China are required to follow international trade rules including those pertaining to occupational health and safety.

In order to explore solutions to some of these problems mentioned above, China’s 1st Annual Safety and Health Management Summit 2002 was organized in Shanghai in June, 2002. About 150 participants from different parts of the world (a majority from China) attended the conference. The two-day summit presented a forum for sharing experience and lessons on occupational safety and health in China. Eighteen keynote speeches addressed a broad range of issues on safety and health management.:

Topics and speakers from China included:

a) “Plans and measures for strengthening China’s work safety supervision” by Mr. Wei Guo Hai, State Administration of Work Safety;

b) “The current situation and future development trends on China’s work safety legislation and supervision management system” by Mr. Ren Shu Kui, State Administration of Work

c) “Global strategies and trends in occupational health- the ICOH perspective” by Prof. Fu Hua from Fudan University

Other international speakers and topics included:

a) “Development of an effective health and safety management system” by Mr. Ole-Andreas Hafnor, Senior Vice President of Certification Northern East Asia); b) “A strategic advantage for enterprises in China” by Mr. Laurence O’Dwyer from Dupont Company; and

c) “China – Benchmarking global safety and management systems” by Mr. Ian T. Cowie from the Australian Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

Conclusion:

ICOH had a place at this pivotal summit meeting. It is hoped that this raised the profile for ICOH, and helped to further develop and strengthen occupational safety and health in China.

For further details of the summit, please contact
Professor Fu Hua, Deputy Dean & Professor
School of Public Health, Fudan University.
E-mail hfu@shmu.edu.cn