Being "locked" in the driver's seat for more than 10 hours a day, online car-hailing drivers face a variety of health risks, and some hope that the platform will provide free medical examinations on a regular basis
How can online car-hailing drivers who are stuck for a long time protect their health?
Our reporter An Yanjing
Sitting for more than 10 hours a day, unable to eat on time, unable to go to the toilet at any time, and the brain is in a state of high tension when driving, car-hailing drivers face a variety of occupational health risks.
Since it is only a "cooperative relationship" with the platform, online car-hailing drivers cannot obtain corresponding medical insurance on the platform.
"The mileage of the car dashboard is hundreds of kilometers every day, but the number of steps on foot is less than 1,000 steps. It seems that we do not need to work while sitting in the car every day, but in fact, after more than 10 hours a day, we are more tired than people who do other jobs. ." The car-hailing driver Xiang Fei said while driving.
In 2015, Xiang Fei came to Beijing from Qinghai to become an online car-hailing driver.
In order to increase the number of orders, he, like many online car-hailing drivers, leaves early and returns late every day, and it is common to work more than 10 hours.
Online car-hailing is convenient for people to travel, but sitting for a long time every day, unable to eat on time and going to the toilet at any time, etc. bring many health risks to online car-hailing drivers.
Chen Baosheng, chief physician of the Physical Examination Department of Peking University Shougang Hospital, said that online car-hailing drivers sit in the cab for a long time and often go to work immediately after meals. In addition, the brain is in a state of high tension when driving, and it is easy to gain weight, blood pressure, blood lipids, etc. The increase will also lead to metabolic diseases such as diabetes due to metabolic dysfunction.
In addition, if you maintain a posture for a long time, the force on the spine is uneven, and the driver is also prone to ligament and muscle damage.
Overtime and long work make online car-hailing drivers a health concern
At 10:30 p.m. on April 19, Qi Caijuan returned to the downstairs of the community after finishing the task of getting out of the car. She slowly opened the car door, leaned her legs out of the car lightly, and walked out of the cab hunched over.
"It's an old problem," Qi Caijuan said. Every night when she finished work, her waist would not be able to straighten up, and it took a few minutes to walk normally.
Qi Caijuan is an online car-hailing driver in Chengde, Hebei Province. She was 20 years old and fell ill.
In addition to the pain in the waist, shoulders and neck caused by long-term sitting, Qi Caijuan also suffers from stomach problems because she doesn't care about eating.
Although it was only a few years after starting the online car-hailing service, Xiang Fei had already suffered from a severe lumbar disc herniation.
He said that he heard people say that online car-hailing drivers earn a lot of money, but only after he realized that there was a lot of running water in the account, but after deducting gas money and car damage, he really didn't get much.
In the past two years, the number of online car-hailing drivers has increased, and the competition in the industry has intensified. In order to earn more money, he drives for more than 12 hours almost every day.
In the past, Xiangfei would put a headrest in the driver's seat to keep the head and waist in a relatively comfortable state, but in the past two years, the platform has required drivers to have a unified image and is not allowed to put personal items on the car. He can only remove these items.
Xiang Fei said that because parking is difficult, he rarely goes to the toilet, and many drivers also suffer from prostatitis.
A study by Tsinghua University in 2021 showed that the average daily working time of online car-hailing drivers in first-tier cities is 11.05 hours, and the average weekly driving time is 6.45 days.
More than 80% of online car-hailing drivers travel for more than 8 hours a day.
"You have a new order, please take it in time." Wu Jiahong, an online car-hailing driver, was about to take a nap in the car while there were no passengers. Before 10 minutes of squinting, the order notification rang again on his mobile phone.
Wu Jiahong leaves the car on time at 7 o'clock every day, and sometimes it is already 12 o'clock in the evening when he gets home.
On this day, she wanted to complete the task of the day as soon as possible, so she did not turn off the order receiving system during the break, but just after starting the car, a burst of cervical pain and dizziness suddenly hit, she had to cancel the task and go home to rest.
Go to the hospital once, less than half a day's income
Online car-hailing drivers belong to flexible employment, have not signed a labor contract with the platform, and have no social security, which has always been a problem for online car-hailing drivers.
Qi Caijuan has always paid social insurance by herself as a flexible worker.
Although she often feels unwell, Qi Caijuan rarely goes to the hospital in order to take more orders.
"It takes half a day to go there. Apart from the money spent on seeing a doctor, the income for half a day is gone." She said that when she has an upset stomach, she will go to the community hospital to prescribe some stomach medicine and put it in the car for backup. I will go to the massage parlor and press it, once every two months on average.
After resting at home for a long time, Wu Jiahong still felt stuffy in her chest, so she went to a hospital the next day in desperation.
"I spent nearly 300 yuan in the morning, which is almost half a day's running water for me." Wu Jiahong told reporters that if she used medical insurance to settle, she only needed to pay half of the money, but since the platform did not pay medical insurance for her, she paid for the medical insurance herself. If you do not renew the payment after the expiration date, you can only pay in full.
On November 30 last year, the "Opinions on Strengthening the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Employees in New Formats of Transportation" issued by the Ministry of Transport and other eight departments proposed to encourage online car-hailing platform companies to actively participate in the pilot work of occupational injury protection, and at the same time urge online car-hailing platforms. Enterprises shall participate in social insurance for drivers who meet the conditions of labor relations in accordance with the law, and guide and support drivers who do not fully meet the conditions for establishing labor relations to participate in corresponding social insurance.
Wu Jiahong told reporters that in order to increase her income, she often takes orders on multiple online car-hailing platforms, but these platforms have not signed labor contracts with her, and are only "cooperative relationships".
She said that if there is a platform that can pay social security and medical insurance for her, she is willing to run orders on a platform full-time.
"I hope the platform can provide free regular medical examinations"
After driving online car-hailing for seven years in Beijing, Xiang Fei recently participated in the free medical examination for drivers organized by the trade union system through the platform for the first time.
Xiang Fei was very satisfied with the inspection.
He told reporters that the physical examination includes not only routine examinations such as blood routine, liver and kidney function, and full abdominal color Doppler ultrasound, but also special prostate examinations for drivers.
After the physical examination, the hospital also gave lectures on disease prevention and first aid for the occupational diseases of the car-hailing drivers, and organized free clinics for the car-hailing drivers.
"I think it's very useful, I learned a lot of knowledge, and I feel a lot more comfortable after the shoulder and neck massage." Xiang Fei said, but he didn't know when the next physical examination was.
As she grows older, Qi Caijuan pays more and more attention to her physical condition. Since the platform has not yet provided drivers with free medical examinations, she took the initiative to have two physical examinations.
"I hope the platform can provide free regular medical examinations, so I can feel more at ease at work." Qi Caijuan said.
Chen Baosheng introduced that, considering the professional characteristics of drivers, in addition to the regular physical examination once a year, a more in-depth and comprehensive examination of key parts such as the spine should be carried out every three years or so.
Drivers themselves should also pay attention to their health, and try to get out of the car to do some stretching exercises as much as possible.
The recent notice issued by Guangdong Province on furthering the work related to the participation of flexible employees in basic medical insurance for employees pointed out that employment is achieved by relying on new business platforms such as e-commerce, online car-hailing, online meal delivery, express logistics, etc. The employees of the new type of employment that the platform enterprises have established labor relations can participate in the basic medical insurance for employees in the places of employment in Guangdong Province, and are not subject to household registration restrictions.
This measure will increase health protection for workers in new employment forms such as car-hailing drivers.