Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases (2018 Amendment)

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases (2018 Amendment) Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases (Adopted at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on October 27, 2001; amended for the first time according to the Decision on Amending the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases as adopted at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress on December 31, 2011; amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending Six Laws including the Energy Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China at the 21st Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on July 2, 2016; amended for the third time in accordance with the Decision of the National People's Congress on Amending Eleven Laws including the Accounting Law of the People's Republic of China at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 4, 2017; and amended for the fourth time according to the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Amend Seven Laws Including the Labor Law of the People's Republic of China as adopted at the Seventh Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 29, 2018) Contents Chapter I General Provisions Chapter II Early Prevention Chapter III Protection and Management during Employment Chapter IV Occupational Disease Diagnosis and Safeguards for Occupational Disease Patients Chapter V Supervision and Inspection Chapter VI Legal Liability Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 To prevent, control, and eliminate occupational disease hazards, prevent and control occupational diseases, protect the health and relevant rights and interests of employees, and promote economic and social development, this Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution . Article 2 This law shall apply to the prevention and control of occupational diseases within the territory of the People's Republic of China. For the purposes of this Law, “occupational diseases” means the diseases contracted by the employees of an enterprise, a public institution, an individual economic organization, or other employer for their exposures to toxic or harmful factors such as dust and radioactive substances in occupational activities. The categories and catalogue of occupational diseases shall be determined, adjusted, and published by the health administrative department of the State Council in conjunction with the labor and social security administrative department of the State Council. Article 3 In the prevention and control of occupational diseases, the guideline of “focusing on prevention and combining prevention with control” shall be followed, a mechanism of “responsibility of the employers, regulation by the administrative organs, industry self-discipline, participation by the employees, and supervision by the general public” shall be established, and categorized management and comprehensive control shall be implemented. Article 4 Employees shall be entitled to occupational health protection according to law. Employers shall create work environment and conditions meeting the national occupational health standards and health requirements and take measures to ensure that employees receive occupational health protection. Trade unions shall oversee the prevention and control of occupational diseases and protect the lawful rights and interests of employees according to law. When formulating or amending rules and regulations on the prevention and control of occupational diseases, employers shall solicit the opinions of trade unions. Article 5 Employers shall establish and improve a responsibility system for the prevention and control of occupational diseases, strengthen the management of prevention and control of occupational diseases, improve their capabilities of prevention and control of occupational diseases, and assume responsibilities for their own occupational disease hazards. Article 6 The primary person in charge of an employer shall assume the overall responsibility for the employer's prevention and control of occupational diseases. Article 7 Employers must participate in work-related injury insurance according to law. The labor and social security administrative departments of the State Council and the local people's governments at and above the county level shall strengthen their supervision and administration of work-related injury insurance and ensure that employees enjoy the benefits of work-related injury insurance according to law. Article 8 The state encourages and supports the research, development, promotion, and application of new technologies, new processes, new equipment, and new materials which facilitate the prevention and control of occupational diseases and the health protection of employees and accentuates the fundamental research on the mechanisms and occurrence patterns of occupational diseases to elevate the scientific and technological levels in the prevention and control of occupational diseases; technologies, processes, equipment, and materials which are effective for the prevention and control of occupational diseases shall be actively adopted; and technologies, processes, equipment, and materials which cause serious occupational disease hazards shall be restricted in use or eliminated. The state encourages and supports the construction of medical rehabilitation institutions for occupational diseases. Article 9 The state shall apply an occupational health supervision system. The health administrative department, and labor and social security administrative department of the State Council shall, according to the functions prescribed by this Law and the State Council, supervise and administer the prevention and control of occupational diseases across the country. Other relevant departments of the State Council shall, within their respective functions, supervise and administer the prevention and control of occupational diseases. The health administrative departments, and labor and social security administrative departments of the local people's governments at and above the county level shall, according to their respective functions, supervise and administer the prevention and control of occupational diseases within their respective administrative regions. Other relevant departments of the local people's governments at and above the county level shall supervise and administer the prevention and control of occupational diseases within their respective functions. The health administrative departments, and labor and social security administrative departments of the people's governments at and above the county level (hereinafter together referred to as the “departments of occupational health supervision and administration”) shall strengthen communication and cooperate closely with each other and, according to their respective functions, legally exercise powers and assume responsibilities. Article 10 The State Council and the local people's governments at and above the county level shall prepare plans on the prevention and control of occupational diseases, which shall be included in the national economic and social development plan, and organize the implementation of such plans. The local people's governments at and above the county level shall uniformly lead, organize, and coordinate work on the prevention and control of occupational diseases within their respective administrative regions, establish effective working systems and mechanisms for the prevention and control of occupational diseases, and uniformly lead and direct work in response to occupational health emergencies; and enhance their capabilities of preventing and controlling occupational diseases and related service systems and improve and implement the responsibility system for the prevention and control of occupational diseases. The people's governments of townships, ethnic townships, and towns shall, in accordance with this Law, support the departments of occupational health supervision and administration in performing their statutory functions. Article 11 The departments of occupational health supervision and administration of the people's governments at and above the county level shall provide more publicity and education on the prevention and control of occupational diseases, disseminate knowledge on the prevention and control of occupational diseases, reinforce employers' awareness of prevention and control of occupational diseases, and improve employees' awareness of occupational health and self-protection and ability to exercise rights to occupational health protection. Article 12 The national occupational health standards on the prevention and control of occupational diseases shall be formulated and published by the health administrative department of the State Council. The health administrative department of the State Council shall organize monitoring and special investigations on major occupational diseases and assessments on occupational health risks to provide a scientific basis for formulating occupational health standards and policies for the prevention and control of occupational diseases. The health administrative departments of the local people's governments at and above the county level shall collect statistics and conduct survey and analysis on the prevention and control of occupational diseases within their respective administrative regions on a regular basis. Article 13 Any entity or individual shall have the right to report and make accusations regarding violations of this Law. The relevant departments shall handle such reports and accusations in a timely manner after receipt. Entities and individuals which have made remarkable achievements in the prevention and control of occupational diseases shall be rewarded. Chapter II Early Prevention Article 14 Employers shall, as required by laws and regulations, strictly comply with the national occupational health standards and implement preventative measures against occupational diseases to control and eliminate occupational disease hazards at source. Article 15 The formation of an employer with occupational disease hazards shall meet the requirements of laws and administrative regulations, and the employer's work sites shall also meet the following occupational health requirements: (1) The intensity or density of occupational disease hazard factors meets the national occupational health standards; (2) There are facilities suitable for protection from occupational disease hazards; (3) The production layout is reasonable and conforms to the principle of separating harmful operations from harmless operations; (4) There are accessory health facilities, such as changing rooms, bathrooms, and lounges for pregnant women; (5) Equipment, tools, appliances, and other facilities shall meet the requirements for protecting the physical and mental health of employees; and (6) Other requirements of laws, administrative regulations, and the health administrative department of the State Council for protecting the health of employees. Article 16 The state shall establish a declaration system for projects with occupational disease hazards. Where an employer's work site has any occupational disease hazard factors as listed in the catalogue of occupational diseases, the employer shall truthfully declare the hazardous project to the local health administrative department in a timely manner and accept supervision. A catalogue of categorized occupational disease hazard factors shall be formulated, adjusted, and published by the health administrative department of the State Council. The specific measures for declaration of projects with occupational disease hazards shall be formulated by the health administrative department of the State Council. Article 17 Where a new construction, an expansion, or a reconstruction project or a technical transformation or technology introduction project (hereinafter referred to as the “construction project”) may cause any occupational hazards, the construction entity shall conduct the pre-assessment of occupational hazards at the feasibility study stage. Where the construction project of a medical institution may have radioactive occupational hazards, the construction entity shall submit a report on the pre-assessment of radioactive occupational hazards to the health administrative department. The health administrative department shall, within 30 days of receipt of the pre-assessment report, make an examination decision and notify the construction entity of the decision in writing. The entity shall not commence construction if no pre-assessment report is submitted or the pre-assessment report is not approved by the health administrative department upon examination. In the preliminary evaluation report on occupational disease hazards, the occupational disease hazard factors which may arise from the construction project and their effects on the work sites and the health of employees shall be evaluated, the hazards shall be categorized, and the protective measures against occupational diseases shall be determined. The measures for the categorized administration of occupational disease hazards in construction projects shall be formulated by the health administrative department of the State Council. Article 18 The expenses necessary for the protective facilities against occupational diseases of a construction project shall be included in the project budget of the construction project, and such facilities shall be designed, constructed, and put to use in production and other operations at the same time as the main body of the project. The design of the facilities for the prevention and control of occupational diseases of a construction project shall comply with the state's occupational health standards and health requirements; and the construction of the prevention and control facilities of a construction project with serious radioactive occupational hazards of a medical institution cannot be commenced until the design of such facilities has been approved by the health administrative department upon examination. Before the acceptance check of a construction project, the construction entity shall evaluate the effects of occupational hazard control. When a construction project that may have radioactive occupational hazards of a medical institution is undergoing acceptance check, its facilities for the prevention and control of radioactive occupational diseases cannot be put into use until they have passed the acceptance check of the health administrative department. The construction entity shall be responsible for legally organizing the acceptance check of the facilities for the prevention and control of occupational diseases of any other construction project, and the facilities cannot be put into production and use until they have passed the acceptance check. The health administrative department shall strengthen the supervision and inspection of acceptance check activities organized by the construction entity and acceptance check results. Article 19 The state shall apply special administration to radioactive, highly toxic, and high-risk dust operations. The specific administrative measures shall be formulated by the State Council. Chapter III Protection and Management during Employment Article 20 An employer shall take the following management measures for the prevention and control of occupational diseases: (1) forming or designating an occupational health management body or organization and having full-time or part-time occupational health management personnel to be responsible for the employer's prevention and control of occupational diseases; (2) preparing plans and implementation schemes for the prevention and control of occupational diseases; (3) establishing and improving occupational health management rules and operating procedures; (4) establishing and improving occupational health archives and employee health surveillance archives; (5) establishing and improving the rules for monitoring and evaluating occupational disease hazard factors at work sites; and (6) establishing and improving the emergency response plans for occupational disease hazard accidents. Article 21 Employers shall ensure the funds required for the prevention and control of occupational diseases, shall not misappropriate such funds, and shall be liable for the consequences of insufficient funds. Article 22 Employers must adopt effective protective facilities against occupational diseases and provide employees with occupational disease protection items for personal use. The occupational disease protection items for personal use provided by an employer to its employees must meet the requirements for the prevention and control of occupational diseases; and those failing to meet such requirements shall not be used. Article 23 Employers shall adopt preferably new technologies, new processes, new equipment, and new materials which facilitate the prevention and control of occupational diseases and the protection of health of employees and gradually replace technologies, processes, equipment, and materials causing serious occupational disease hazards. Article 24 An employer with occupational disease hazards shall set up a bulletin board in a conspicuous position to disclose its rules, regulations and operating procedures related to the prevention and control of occupational diseases, emergency rescue measures in response to occupational disease hazard accidents, and testing results of occupational disease hazard factors at work sites. For work posts with serious occupational disease hazards, an employer shall set warning signs and Chinese warning explanations in a conspicuous place. The warning explanations shall indicate the categories, consequences, and prevention of occupational disease hazards, the emergency rescue and treatment measures, and so on. Article 25 For toxic or harmful work sites where acute occupational injuries may occur, an employer shall install alarms and provide on-spot rescue items, washing equipment, emergency evacuation exits, and necessary hazard buffer zones. For radioactive work sites and the transport and storage of radioactive isotopes, an employer must provide protective equipment, install alarms, and ensure that its personnel exposed to radiation carry a personal dosage gauge. For the protective equipment against occupational diseases, emergency rescue facilities, and occupational disease protection items for personal use, an employer shall conduct routine maintenance and repair, and regularly test their performances and effects, to ensure that they are in normal condition; and shall not dismantle or discontinue the use of them without permission. Article 26 Employers shall designate special persons responsible for the daily monitoring of occupational disease hazard factors and ensure the normal operation of the monitoring system. An employer shall, according to the provisions of the health administrative department of the State Council, conduct regular tests and evaluations of the occupational disease hazard factors at its work sites. The results of such tests and evaluations shall be entered into the occupational health archives of the employer and, on a regular basis, be reported to the local health administrative department and disclosed to its employees. The tests and evaluations of occupational disease hazard factors shall be conducted by the legally established occupational health technical service institutions accredited by the health administrative department of the State Council or the health administrative department of the local people's government at or above level of a districted city according to its functions. The occupational health technical service institutions shall provide objective and authentic tests and evaluations. When discovering that the occupational disease hazard factors at a work site fail to meet the national occupational health standards and health requirements, an employer shall take corresponding control measures immediately, and if the n......