Zhang zhao, lu qing, su min
On 22 april 2024, the public prosecutor's office of the pyramid district of ansheng city, guizhou province, visited the industrial park in connection with an administrative public interest suit for workers ' health rights and interests. Reporter lin jian-an
On 28 june 2022, in accordance with the public prosecutor's ruling, wang silver king and coal mine signed a settlement agreement with the public prosecutor's office of the municipality of yamaxi province. The correspondent, zhang jia ri
On 31 october 2023, the public prosecutor's office of ningbo township, zhejiang province, in conjunction with the general trade union of the district, held a hearing in the case of radio-pollution and the administrative public interest in the protection of workers ' rights and interests in small radiotherapy clinics. Radio correspondent chen nae
In april 2024, the public prosecutor's office of zheng county of sichuan province, with the assistance of community officials, visited the house of the person concerned to investigate and verify the situation. The correspondent, officer shelly
Breathing is the most natural simple thing for ordinary people and a luxury for patients with dust and lungs — suffering every minute of their lives to breathe。
In recent years, with the transformation of society and industry, coal mines and factories that do not comply with environmental standards have been shut down consecutively and many workers have been unemployed. More unfortunately, they suffered from dust pulmonary disease as a result of their long past operation in the dust environment。
Tai is a community-friendly organization for the long-term care and assistance of people with pneumoconiosis. The report of the survey of chinese workers with dust and pulmonary disease, published by the organization in june 2025, shows that it is estimated that there are about 6 million people with dust and pulmonary disease in the country, and that tens of thousands more are added each year. Dust pulmonary disease is the first category of occupational disease in the country, and the legal rights and interests of patients with dust and pulmonary diseases have always been of great concern。
1 hard breathing after illness
"i'm sick. I have to take a five-six-step break and sleep all night." in october 2024, journalists were able to see wang gin, a dust lung patient, in a house in the flat of the city of yamato, shanxi province. When he reached the age of 52, he spoke with a visible breath, approaching an eight-metre head, and was thinned。
He recalled to journalists the daily life in the mine: day and night he was busy under the dark wells, and he pulled coal in one car and another ... “i can't remember a few hours a day, but i can't remember that when i crawled out, my nose was full of ash, and my son couldn't recognize me when he came home.”
Wang gin has been engaged in underground mining in a coal mine in the city since 1989 and has been exposed to large quantities of coal dust. In march 2016, he was diagnosed by the hospital as “suspicious dust pulmonary disease”, and has since deteriorated. One year later, he was diagnosed with dust pulmonary disease in an occupational disease control facility in the same city, which was assessed as level iii disability and partly dependent on care。
Wang gin is just one of the many plumes. Once, their access to mines and factories for their livelihood, their hard work to raise the hopes of their families, also contributed to the rapid economic development of our country, leaving behind a life-long disease due to the harsh working environment。
The old clock in the province of sichuan talks about past work, and there is always a picture of dust. When he was young, he worked at a local silica company, which was responsible for cutting and grinding stone. “as soon as the cutter rings, the entire house is filled with powder, sometimes with the eyes of the fellow workers, full of hair, clothing and nostrils. When you're young, you don't take it too seriously, and now you understand the importance of protection.” the old clock looked out the window, and it was hard to hide it。
In 2013, chung was diagnosed with cynic pulmonary disease and was assessed as having a level iv disability. Over the years, he had been suffering from respiratory difficulties and had coughed heavily and had been able to maintain his physical condition only with medication, a period that had lasted more than a decade。
Paraplegic pulmonary disease is a form of dust pulmonary disease. It is understood that pneumoconiosis is not available at present and that even if it is removed from the dust environment, it may continue to progress. This means that, in the event of illness, the rest of the life will be accompanied by pain。
Loss of compensation for injury at work
Occupational injury insurance is an important means of ensuring effective protection of the rights and interests of patients with dust and lung, but due to inadequate policies and systems in place at the local level, it is particularly difficult to apply for compensation。
In july 2017, after the illness, wang gin was unable to continue working in the coal mine and was asked by the company to withdraw from work and to perform work injury insurance. However, the company did not contribute to it on the basis of its actual salary when it contributed to its injury insurance. This directly results in wang's injury insurance treatment being lower than it would have been。
“for the most part, i've been in the mines, and now i'm sick and nobody cares about me.” wang gyeong-ju has gone through social security, labour arbitration and so on, and is still unable to explain. In 2019, in order to defend his legitimate rights and interests, wang silver king filed a suit in court for compensation from the coal mining company for the difference in his work injury. Upon review, the court found that, according to the social security audit scheme issued by the ministry of labour and social security in 2003, wang's request was outside the scope of the court's case and rejected it。
Chung also faces the challenge of compensation. In february 2024, when chung found out that his basic health insurance had been cut off, he found a statement from silicon sands, during which he met three colleagues who were also diagnosed with silican pulmonary disease. Since then, four elderly people, who had been close to rare years, have repeatedly gone to the local community to apply for arbitration to establish their labour relationship with silicon sands and to ask the company to pay for their basic health insurance, but have never had the desired results。
In 2022, a sample of the country's 10 provinces was surveyed with the result that more than 80 per cent of patients with dust and lung had not applied for compensation, and only 4. 1 per cent of those with a defined labour relationship could apply for compensation for injury at work, out of which only 1. 22 per cent were able to receive compensation for injury at work. On the other hand, it took an average of 23. 5 months from the time of the application for compensation to the time of obtaining compensation, the longest being 84 months。
3 office of the prosecutor
Why can't you get the money you deserve? In august 2021, wang gin-ju came to the public prosecutor's office in taiyo to apply for supervision. Following the case, a series of investigative verifications were carried out by the public prosecutor of the civil prosecution service of the court, hanbin。
Asking the relevant officials of the coal mining company and visiting the social security agency to account for the difference in actual treatment, hanbin confirmed the fact that the company had reduced its salary rate during the period when wang gin was off work, resulting in the loss of its occupational injury insurance benefits。
“the reason for the court's inadmissibility of the case was that the determination of the base of social insurance premiums was the responsibility of the employment injury insurance agency, but in fact wang gin-ju had previously applied to the employment injury insurance institute and brought the case before the court for lack of support, in which case the court should have taken up the matter.” hanbin informed the journalist。
Wang's claim was supported by the public prosecutor's office of the same city, which then appealed to the public prosecutor's office of shanxi province. However, a new problem arose — the responsibility for the loss of occupational injury insurance benefits — and there was no clear legal basis for it。
“we communicated with the persons concerned in the preceding period and learned that there was a willingness on both sides to reconcile, but that it was difficult to reach an agreement because the amount of the compensation paid was too far from what was expected.” the relevant head of the shanxi public prosecutor's office made a presentation. Subsequently, several consultations were organized by the hosting prosecutor, which culminated in a settlement between the parties on 28 june 2022, whereby the coal mine corporation undertook to compensate wang silver within 30 days for the difference of $180,000 in compensation for injury insurance。
“the case is somewhat typical. It has been found through case-related searches that the loss of benefits due to the failure to pay the full amount of work injury insurance contributions is common and that the rights and interests of workers can be better protected if the relevant regulations are improved.” the relevant head of the shanxi provincial public prosecutor's office informed journalists that, to that end, it had been actively involved in a thematic meeting with the shanxi provincial social welfare office, which had culminated in 2023 in the promotion of the shanxi provincial government's approach to improving the rules governing the liability for compensation for injury insurance。
“in accordance with the latest regulations, employers fail to declare the employee's contribution base in full, resulting in a reduction in the employment injury insurance entitlement for workers with injuries, the difference being paid by the employer in part.” according to the chief of the employment injury insurance division of the shanxi department of social welfare, li changdong, the prosecution service has contributed to the improvement of the system on a case-by-case basis。
4 help them institutionally
The path to the rights of wang silver is difficult, but he is certainly a relatively lucky one: there is a clear labour relationship with the enterprise, with an injury determination and a real benefit for work injury insurance。
However, the reality is that, in order for a patient to receive compensation for an injury at work, he or she has to undergo a number of stages of proof of labour relations, diagnosis of occupational diseases, determination of an injury at work and determination of his or her ability to work. In this process, only a fraction of the large number of patients with dust and pulmonary diseases can be diagnosed with occupational diseases, and only a few of those diagnosed with occupational diseases can be identified with an occupational injury, and few are eventually compensated。
Journalists have been informed that, from 2012 to date, more than 100 representatives of the national people's congress and members of the political consultative council have provided input on the issue of dust and pulmonary disease, resulting in the submission of 94 proposals。
At the two national meetings held in 2024, zhang yishan, a representative of the national people's congress and a senior editor of the special coverage unit of the shanxi daily news, submitted two recommendations relating to dust and pulmonary disease: the elimination of the definition of “occupational pulmonary disease” and the establishment of a central special fund for the protection of persons suffering from the disease。
Zhang yishan's representative explained to journalists that there was little chance that non-occupational activities would lead to dust and pulmonary disease, and that the diagnosis of occupational diseases would complicate the procedure for the diagnosis of occupational diseases based on the determination of labour relations. In practice, a significant proportion of pneumoconiosis patients are unable to find units responsible for themselves because of irregular recruitment processes. The emphasis on “occupational” prefixes would keep out those who are not responsible for the substance of the disease。
Of course, the mere elimination of the “occupational” prefix does not solve all problems. In the view of zhang yishan, the establishment of the central fund for protection and assistance to persons with pneumoconiosis is even more important, and he recommends that the provincial government establish special safeguards and special funds for the responsible units to combat the problem of dust and pulmonary diseases together with the state and society。
“there are many programmes to assist pneumonia patients, but at the core is the introduction of special funds.” the secretary-general of pace, fan xiaosung, indicated that the establishment of a central special fund could be used as a cover for patients who had not paid employment injury insurance, who could not find an employer or an establishment in bankruptcy, and who had no labour relationship。
It is indeed the most immediate and effective way to provide security at the national level for persons with pneumoconiosis. The deputies of the national people's congress, the vice-president of the chinese medical hospital of chuzhou, zhejiang province, and chen zheng, vice-president of the city council of the third school institute, have also made recommendations on health care: the national commission for the health of the health and welfare of the nation has included special treatment drugs for dust and pulmonary diseases in the national list of essential medicines, and primary health-care institutions have provided them as clinical drugs. At the same time, the health care sector has promoted the establishment of a special health insurance fund for pneumoconiosis, which will be used for the medical reimbursement of rural workers with pneumoconiosis。
Five, hold up a fresh breathing space
The relief after anything is less than the source. If a dust-free space could be created from the source, it might be a good solution。
On several occasions, sun jie, a member of the national political consultative council, a professor at the university of foreign economics and trade, who has long been concerned with the subject of dust and pulmonary disease, referred to the need to regulate labour protection measures in enterprises and to reduce new cases of dust and pulmonary disease from sources
In recent years, the public interest litigation system has become an important mechanism for safeguarding workers ' rights and interests. Full use of pro bono prosecution functions and the establishment of legal barriers to the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases, for which the prosecution has been working -
The public prosecutor's office of the pyramid district of ansheng city in guizhou, in response to the noise and dust overstretch of a glass company, violates the national occupational health standards and requirements for the prevention and control of occupational diseases and infringes the health rights and interests of workers. Through the public benefit prosecution service, the public prosecutor's office has been charged with ensuring that the executive branch discharges its duties in accordance with the law in order to promote, on a case-by-case basis, the specific management of occupational diseases。
The office of the public prosecutor of the nimba county of zhejiang province, in response to inadequate management of occupational diseases, such as the lack of protection at a radiation clinic and the lack of implementation of occupational health checks, has helped enterprises to analyse and clean up the blind zone through the construction of a model for the legal monitoring of large data, public hearings, etc., and issued recommendations to the relevant administrative bodies, urging them to conduct industry-standard business interviews and effectively promote enterprise health。
The public prosecutor's office of tojiang city of sichuan province, in response to the failure of individual companies in the district to provide standard labour protection equipment to workers working in paints, issued recommendations to the competent authorities for the inspection of public service actions, directed 68 such enterprises throughout the city at a cost of $3 million, updated their equipment with more than 30,000 items, and provided workers with occupational health check-ups and monitoring of occupational health hazards to protect workers ' health rights and interests。
“the public prosecutor's office conducts specialized monitoring of occupational diseases, which creates occupational health barriers for workers and provides a fresh breathing space for dust workers using the rule of law. It is hoped that the public prosecutor's office will continue to use its pro bono prosecution function to promote the rule of law in the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases, in coordination with the relevant authorities, to contribute to the healthy development of enterprises and to protect people's lives with care.” zhejiang province。
The “fifty-five” national occupational disease plan is currently being prepared. In may 2025, the china occupational health services platform launched an initiative to publicly solicit proposals for responses to advance the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases. Journalists noted that the initiative had received multiple echoes from pro bono organizations, lawyers, etc. All sectors of society look forward to a new chapter in the fight against pneumonia。
