Legislators yesterday proposed an additional stipulation in the draft labor contract law that requires employers to inform workers of potential occupational diseases and preventive measures.

"We agree that the latest draft is better written, but it lacks regulations about occupational, or work-related, diseases, which are serious in the country, " Zhu Xiangyuan, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, said during the committee's third reading of the draft law.

Zhu said existing laws had related stipulations, but it was necessary to make the law consistent.

The Law on Prevention and Cure of Occupational Diseases, which took effect in 2002, makes it clear that potential occupational diseases and preventive measures must be included in labor contracts.

During the labor contract term, if the employer wants to transfer the employee to an occupational-disease-inductive post that is not indicated in the contract, the contract should be modified.

If the employer fails to do so, the employee can refuse to take the post, and it cannot be used as an excuse to terminate the contract, the law says.

Another NPC Standing Committee member Wang Yongyan said his recent investigations in North China's Hebei Province had found that almost all labor contracts that should have stipulated possible occupational diseases failed to do so.

"It's necessary and urgent to have such a stipulation in the draft," he said. "If not, to prevent occupational diseases could be even more difficult."

Occupational diseases such as silicosis and pneumoconiosis are serious in the country.

Figures from the Ministry of Health show that by the end of 2005, China recorded 665,043 cases of occupational illnesses, including 606,891 cases of pneumoconiosis, a chronic disease of the lungs resulting from long-term inhalation of dust and primarily affecting miners, sandblasters and metal grinders.

About 10,000 new cases of pneumoconiosis emerge each year. On average, each pneumoconiosis patient suffers an annual financial loss of 34,100 yuan ($4,400), according to the ministry.

Leather making, construction and chemicals are other sectors where occupational diseases are high.

Source: China Daily