Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 28 (Reporters Li Heng and Dong Ruifeng) Occupational health is related to the well-being of every worker. How to protect the health rights and interests of workers? What are the legal occupational diseases? How to deal with traditional and emerging occupational health challenges? April 25 to May 1, 2025 is the 23rd National Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Law Promotion Week. The National Health Commission held a press conference on the 28th to answer questions of public concern.

Build 900 pneumoconiosis rehabilitation stations

More than 660 occupational health and radiation health technical standards were promulgated; special treatment of occupational disease hazards was implemented, and more than 170,000 enterprises have completed the governance tasks; 64 protection technologies with advantages such as innovation, intelligence, efficiency, and energy conservation were selected, and they were promoted and applied in mining, metallurgy, chemical, machinery manufacturing and other industries... A set of data at the press conference showed that my country insisted on prevention as the main focus and combination of prevention and control to protect the occupational health of workers.

According to reports, in 2024, the main occupational disease hazard factors in 500,000 key positions will be tested nationwide, and pneumoconiosis will be screened for 5 million patients with respiratory diseases. Monitoring results show that the workplace environment and conditions are gradually improving, and employers are gradually increasing their sense of responsibility for implementing occupational disease prevention and control. However, the task of preventing and controlling traditional occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis and noise deafness is still arduous.

"At present, pneumoconiosis cannot be cured, but it can delay the disease course and improve the quality of life by standardizing treatment and rehabilitation." Li Jun, deputy director of the Occupational Health Department of the National Health Commission, said that with the support of the central government, the National Health Commission actively guides the sinking of rehabilitation resources and builds a number of pneumoconiosis rehabilitation stations based on existing township health centers and community health service centers. At present, the total number of pneumoconiosis rehabilitation stations has reached 900, achieving full coverage of townships (communities) with concentrated pneumoconiosis patients.

The statutory occupational diseases have increased to 12 categories and 135 categories

It is worth noting that the "Classification and Catalogue of Occupational Diseases" revised at the end of 2024 has added two categories: "occupational musculoskeletal diseases" and "occupational mental and behavioral disorders", including two diseases, including carpal tunnel syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, and the statutory occupational diseases have increased to 135 categories and 12 categories.

Sun Xin, director of the Occupational Health Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that occupational carpal tunnel syndrome is a type of occupational musculoskeletal disease. It is mainly a type of disease caused by long-term stress, repeated operations, poor posture, heavy physical labor and vibration during work. It is recommended that employers improve processes, technology and equipment to reduce repeated work on workers' wrists; when workers rest during work, they can appropriately relax their wrists or local massage.

Wang Gang, director of Beijing Anding Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, introduced that the public security officers, medical staff and firefighters involved in emergency rescue and disaster relief are key groups in the prevention and control of post-traumatic stress disorder. Employers need to make psychological crisis intervention plans in their daily lives and carry out mental health knowledge training and drills regularly. The staff participating in the rescue will be evaluated for their psychological status, identify symptoms early, and provide timely support.

The trade union station serves nearly 800 million people in 2024

Du Wenfu, a second-level inspector of the Labor and Economic Work Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, introduced that as of 2024, enterprises in high-risk industries across the country have signed 505,000 special collective contracts for labor and health, covering 64.4818 million employees. From 2021 to 2024, trade unions at all levels across the country have invested nearly 6 billion yuan in special funds for "cool delivery" and visited nearly 90 million employees. In addition, 186,100 trade union stations have been built nationwide, serving nearly 800 million people in 2024.

How to improve employees' awareness of occupational health knowledge and protective skills? Du Wenfu introduced that the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and relevant departments organized the National "Ankang Cup" competition. As of now, there are more than 600,000 participating companies and more than 80 million participating employees. At the same time, strengthen the training of occupational health knowledge for trade unions engaged in labor protection staff.

The construction of healthy enterprises plays an important role in ensuring the physical and mental health of workers. Wang Shaohui, Party Secretary of Beijing Jinggang Metro Co., Ltd., introduced that the company introduced a fully enclosed ventilation system, independently developed patented products to replace artificial track inspections, etc. to reduce operating risks; jointly carried out occupational health training for occupational tension damage, skeletal muscle injury and other related occupational health training, with a total of more than 20,000 people being trained in 2024; fully implemented employee psychological assistance projects, and professional institutions provide 24-hour psychological counseling services.

Mental health and emerging business forms have attracted attention

In recent years, new business forms such as express delivery, online car-hailing, and online live broadcast have developed rapidly. Sun Xin reminds that relevant practitioners should avoid working for a long time or staying up late, and exercise appropriately after working for a period of time to combine work and rest. At the same time, you should avoid sitting for a long time. You can alternately use standing and sitting posture to relieve fatigue.

What are the common mental health problems in professional people? Wang Gang said that anxiety and depression are more common psychological problems in professional people. Most mental and psychological problems can be effectively treated, and workers should seek professional help from mental health institutions in a timely manner. On the upcoming May Day International Labor Day, if workers encounter psychological problems, they can call the national unified psychological assistance hotline "12356" for consultation.

Some people eat when they are anxious and nervous. After eating too much, they are worried that gaining weight will affect their health. How to regulate it? Wang Gang said that this is a common "emotional eating" behavior, and relieving stress and regulating emotions should be solved in scientific ways, such as exercising, talking to relatives and friends.