Businesses increase competitiveness via OHS

Businesses should regularly pay attention to occupational health and safety

Typical examples

The Piaggio Vietnam Co., Ltd considers the human factor as the key to success and has constantly paid due attention to occupational health and safety (OHS) conditions and working environment. It has identified OHS as one of the decisive factors for sustainable development since its establishment and has focused on OHS improvement, especially OHS propaganda and education for its employees including hanging OHS posters and information panels at manufacturing sections and providing OHS handbooks with detailed OHS regulations and knowledge for employees. Last year, the company recorded VND1.4 billion as OHS expenses.

The Tae Kwang Vina Industrial JSC is a 100 percent foreign invested company, specializing in the manufacture and processing of export leather footwear and apparel. The company currently has more than 26,000 employees, including nearly 400 workers with disabilities and with 80 percent of the total number of employees being female. The Board of Directors of the company has created favorable conditions for workers, assigned jobs suitable for workers in terms of health, and paid attention to labor protection and fire-fighting equipment with a view to ensuring OHS in production. All workers for the company have received social and health insurance and have trained in skills to address OHS and fire emergencies. In addition, they have also received mid-shift meals.

The Dong Anh Shoes JSC has improved working conditions at its workshops including reducing heat and noise, increasing lighting and clean water provision and upgrading fire-prevention systems. It has successfully maintained OHS conditions and has won both customer’s and worker’s trust.

OHS improvements are necessary

According to Ha Tat Thang, the Director of the Bureau for Safe Work under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, corporate OHS investment has remained limited. Only several large companies in the oil and gas sector or invested by partners from the Europe, Japan and the Republic of Korea have focused on OHS improvement. So, it is necessary to encourage companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to pay more attention to OHS along with protecting the environment.

To improve OHS at local companies, relevant authorities need to adopt a range of drastic measures and apply severe sanctions on OHS violations, especially for workplace accidents causing deaths. In addition, employers should improve OHS propaganda at their companies, offer their employees OHS training courses, and have OHS-specific pisions.

Quynh Nga