工人的职业病谁来买单?

我国目前的职业病人数已过百万，但是由于职业病具有潜伏性，一般不容易被发现，但是等发现的时候已经来不及救治了。很多鲜活的例子证明：职业病易防不易治，提高警惕防患未然才是关键。

Recent data from the Ministry of Health shows that with 200 million victims nationwide and 16 million companies with a hazardous workplace environment, China is facing grave challenges of tackling occupational diseases.

According to Ye Mingxin, a researcher from Beijing Yilian Legal Aid and study Center of Labor, the most important prevention work is neglected by employers.

"According to our report, only 23 percent of employers provide some protective facilities. Most employers do not inform workers of risks or provide any training in occupational health, and 46 percent of respondent employers had never conducted occupational health checks."

The current complicated procedure is unfavorable to workers who must overcome a series of difficulties to receive compensation. According to Ye Mingxin, 48% of patients interviewed have had the experience of being rejected dialysis from the Occupational Diseases Institute. The reason for that is their employers refuse to provide victims' work-related medical history record. Even after patients are diagnosed of an occupational disease, the work-related injury claim procedure takes an average of three years.

Meanwhile, workers' interests are vulnerable. Of the 1,026 poisoned workers interviewed with an average age of 37.5, approximately 45.6 percent of respondents said their employers did not buy injury insurance for them, 55.9 percent faced similar situations regarding endowment insurance, and 86 percent admitted they have not joined in any labor unions.

Jia Guang, professor of Occupational Health from Beijing University, said, faced with the challenge, it is far more important to prevent occupational diseases than to try to cure them.

"Occupational diseases have a very distinguished feature which is they have very long latent periods. Patients may have symptoms emerge after ten years, or even 30 years. This will greatly affect their lives after retirement and add burdens to our society. The most important principle in occupational health is prevention. We should try to eliminate the exposure to occupational noxious factors from the beginning."

To tackle occupational diseases won't be an easy job. The Yilian center reckons that government should be responsible for making sure employers provide adequate protective measures and claim procedures for victims' compensation should be simplified.

For CRI, I'm Xiaoyee.