Wang Xuedong is unable to use chopsticks to eat, as he is losing control of his hands.

Wang, a 27-year-old worker in a private electronics firm in Foshan in south China's Guangdong Province, has been diagnosed with chronic hexane poisoning, which doctors say may lead to total loss of feeling.

"Since I came here half a year ago my job has been to wash circuit boards with chemical liquids," he claimed.

"The ventilation system at the plant is poor, and we don't wear any respirators," said Wang, adding all he had was a pair of gloves.

Wang's case is far from unusual. Because of poor working conditions and a lack of health and safety awareness among employees, the problem of occupational diseases in Guangdong is getting worse.

According to Yao Zhibing, director of the Guangdong Provincial Health Department, Guangdong is currently witnessing a period of high risk of occupational diseases.

"More than 5 million employees out of 20 million in the province's 420,000 factories are at risk of occupational diseases," Yao said.

According to Yao, the province reported a total of 14,047 cases of occupational diseases from 1989 to 2005.

"Occupational diseases, health problems caused by exposure to workplace health hazards, are taking an enormous toll both on human health and the economy in the province," Yao said in an interview with China Daily yesterday.

According to Yao, Guangdong is one of the major victims of occupational diseases, with an average 200 deaths each year since 1989.

The Ministry of Health says that across the nation 200 million people are at risk of occupational diseases.
 
Major dangers

According to Yao, the main dangers in Guangdong at the moment are pneumoconiosis, solvent toxicosis and silicosis.

The province reported a total of 2,418 cases of pneumoconiosis from 1989 to 2005, of which 1,302 were fatal.

Traditionally high risk places included mines and clothing and jewellery factories in the Pearl River Delta region.

With relocation of manufacturing bases in recent years, occupational diseases have also shifted from the Pearl River Delta to eastern and western areas of the province, according to Yao.

Li Lanfang, vice-director of the standing committee of Guangdong provincial people's congress, claimed that inadequate law enforcement, poor ventilation in the workplace, excessive working hours and no health and safety training for employees are to blame for increasing occupational diseases.

In May 2002, a law on occupational disease prevention went into effect in the province, but many enterprises are breaking the rules, according to Li.

"This is considered a major factor behind China's grim occupational disease situation," Li said.

Local work safety monitoring departments, instead of health departments, were assigned to supervise and inspect factories in 2004, but so far little has been done, Li said.

"It is now urgent to identify clearly how to assign duties between work safety and health departments," Li said.

To strengthen law enforcement, Li said that Guangdong has outlined a draft law to prevent occupational diseases during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) period.

According to the draft law, all enterprises that have potential for occupational diseases should report to local health departments.

"All employees in these enterprises are required to obtain licenses after health safety training and health checks," Li said.

(China Daily August 10, 2006)