The event was co-organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, Japan, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Participants at the seminar shared information and experience in ensuring occupational health and safety at SMEs and agreed to strengthen cooperation in this field.

They also made recommendations to promote OHS in the Southeast Asian countries and stressed the need to provide better healthcare services to workers, reinforce labour policies and organize training courses on OHS.

There are an increasing number of workplace accidents. In 2009 alone, Vietnam had about 6,000 workplace accidents, killing 550 people and injuring more than 1,200 others.