Addressing the symposium, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Bui Hong Linh emphasised the importance of human resources in national construction and development, adding that ensuring occupational safety is part and parcel of human rights protection.

According to the report, the country’s occupational safety inspectors conducted nearly 8,190 investigations, detected more than 39,000 violations and punished 1,402 businesses. Meanwhile, the fire and explosion prevention police examined 172,432 establishments and detected 124,764 violations.

According to MoLISA, more than 27,000 labour accidents occurred from 2005-09, killing more than 2,000 people. Also in the reviewed period, nearly 8,600 fires broke out across the country (excluding forest fires), killing 275 people and injuring 862 others. Total monetary losses amounted to more than VND2 trillion .

The participants proposed adding more information to the report, such as the number of experts involved in labour safety, an assessment of risks and measures to deal with fires and explosions at industrial zones.

The 12^th national week on occupational safety and fire and explosion prevention will kick off in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on March 14.