There are many cases of workers suffering from heat stroke at work, but few people apply for occupational disease diagnosis——
Why is the identification of heat stroke work-related injuries so rare?
Our reporter Yang Zhaokui
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Recently, there have been incidents of workers suffering from heat stroke at work in many places.
According to relevant regulations, if a worker is identified as occupational heatstroke after suffering from heat stroke, he or she can have an occupational disease diagnosis and declare a work-related injury, and enjoy work-related injury insurance benefits.
However, in reality, the road of laborers' rights protection is full of difficulties.
Recently, high-temperature weather has occurred in many parts of the country, and the highest temperature in some places has even exceeded 40 degrees Celsius.
News of some workers suffering from heat stroke or even unfortunate death due to hot work appeared in the media.
Heat stroke belongs to severe heat stroke. According to relevant regulations, if a worker is identified as occupational heat stroke after suffering from heat stroke, he can have an occupational disease diagnosis and declare a work-related injury, and enjoy work-related injury insurance benefits.
However, a reporter from the "Workers Daily" found in an interview that it is "a little difficult" for heat stroke patients to identify work-related injuries, and very few can truly enjoy work-related injury insurance benefits.
Occupational heatstroke is rarely diagnosed as an occupational disease
According to Article 19 of the Measures for the Administration of Heatstroke Prevention and Cooling Measures, which has been implemented since 2012, workers who suffer from heatstroke due to high temperature work or work in high temperature weather and are diagnosed with occupational diseases shall enjoy work-related injury insurance benefits.
Among the physical occupational diseases listed in the Classification and Catalog of Occupational Diseases, the first item is heat stroke.
At the same time, according to Article 14, paragraph 4, of the Regulations on Industrial Injury Insurance, those who suffer from occupational diseases shall be identified as work-related injuries.
This also means that workers who suffer from occupational heatstroke can enjoy work-related injury insurance benefits.
However, the reporter learned in the interview that it is not uncommon for front-line workers to suffer from occupational heat stroke or even heat stroke, but very few actually apply for occupational disease diagnosis and work-related injuries.
For example, according to the latest data released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, in the past two years, only 11 people in Shaoxing applied for occupational disease diagnosis due to heatstroke, and in 2021 alone, Shaoxing reported 556 cases of heatstroke.
In 2019, there were 572 reported cases of heat stroke in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, but only one worker applied for an occupational disease diagnosis.
In this regard, some experts pointed out that compared with common occupational diseases such as pneumoconiosis and occupational poisoning, workers are less aware of occupational heat stroke as an occupational disease.
After a considerable number of workers suffer from occupational heatstroke, they do not know that they can apply for occupational disease diagnosis and enjoy corresponding work-related injury insurance benefits.
Zhang Zhiyou, a lawyer from Beijing Fumao Law Firm, told reporters that workers would only think of work-related injury identification when they had severe occupational heat stroke and could not continue to work, or needed hospitalization, or even died. However, due to the difficulty in safeguarding their rights, some workers even Had no choice but to "private" with the company.
Work-related injury identification faces "two hurdles"
"To diagnose occupational diseases, we must first confirm labor relations. This is a difficult hurdle for many construction workers, as well as new employment forms such as couriers and takeaways." Zhang Zhiyou analyzed.
According to media reports, recently, a construction worker fell ill from heat stroke on his way home from work. After being sent to the hospital, rescue efforts were unsuccessful and he died in the early morning of the next day.
However, because they did not sign a labor contract with the unit, it was difficult to identify the labor relationship and it could not be identified as a work-related injury. In the end, the family and the responsible party of the construction site reached an agreement, and the construction site paid the funeral expenses and paid work-related death compensation.
In Zhang Zhiyou's view, the above-mentioned construction workers did not sign a labor contract with the unit and could not confirm the labor relationship. Finally, the family members reached a settlement with the responsible party of the construction site.
In addition, Zhang Zhiyou pointed out that occupational disease diagnosis is another hurdle that needs to be faced in the identification of heat stroke work-related injuries.
Occupational disease diagnosis needs to provide the patient's occupational history, occupational disease hazard exposure history, and workplace occupational disease hazard factors.
Specific to occupational heat stroke, according to the "Diagnostic Criteria for Occupational Heat Stroke", according to the occupational history of high temperature work, clinical manifestations such as elevated body temperature, muscle spasm, syncope, hypotension, oliguria, and disturbance of consciousness appear, combined with auxiliary examinations. Results, referring to occupational hygiene survey data in the workplace, comprehensive analysis, excluding similar diseases caused by other causes, occupational heat stroke can be diagnosed.
These certificates often require the cooperation of the employer to provide corresponding evidence materials. If the employer does not cooperate, it is difficult for the laborer to obtain these evidences, and it is difficult to diagnose occupational diseases.
Although, according to Article 48 of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, in the process of occupational disease diagnosis and appraisal, if the employer does not provide information such as the test results of occupational disease hazard factors in the workplace, the diagnosis and appraisal agency shall combine the laborer's clinical manifestations and auxiliary examination results. Occupational disease diagnosis and identification conclusions should be made by referring to the laborer's occupational history and occupational disease hazards exposure history, and referring to the laborer's self-report and the daily supervision and inspection information provided by the health administrative department.
However, some labor law lawyers told reporters that in practice, occupational disease identification agencies seldom diagnose occupational diseases based on the self-reports of workers and the daily supervision and inspection information provided by the health administrative department.
In this context, some workers have forced enterprises to provide the materials needed for workers' occupational disease diagnosis by complaining to relevant administrative departments.
Workers' rights protection "opens a new way"
Cui Jie, a lawyer from Beijing Deheng Law Firm, told reporters that in the absence of a written labor contract to prove it, the determination of the factual labor relationship can be comprehensively judged in combination with labor and personnel management, labor remuneration payment, labor business contacts and other factors.
However, since many construction workers are recruited by contractors, it is difficult to obtain a labor relationship certification with the construction unit.
The reporter noticed that the People's Court of Pujiang County, Zhejiang Province recently heard a case in which construction worker Wang suffered from heat stroke and asked to confirm the labor relationship with a garden engineering company in Zhejiang, the contractor of the project.
The court held that Wang was recruited by the foreman and settled the remuneration with the foreman.
There was no written contract or factual act to establish a labor relationship between the landscape engineering company and Wang.
Therefore, the court rejected Wang's claim.
"Many construction workers are led by contractors and work at various construction sites, and contractors are generally affiliated with a labor service company to contract projects. As a result, there is often no direct labor relationship between labor service companies, construction units and construction workers. Zhang Zhiyou told reporters, "It is precisely because of the existence of contractors that it is difficult for construction workers to protect their rights for work-related injuries. It is recommended that relevant departments regulate labor management and promote various employers to sign labor contracts with construction workers."
In addition, the reporter found that some workers had no choice but to defend their rights on the grounds of disputes over the liability of victims of labor services because they could not confirm their labor relations or because of the cumbersome diagnostic procedures for occupational diseases.
For example, Wang, a greening and maintenance worker from a greening company in Jiangsu, suffered from heat stroke, and his physical condition did not improve. He was identified as a first-degree disability and required long-term hospitalization.
Since then, he sued the Greening Company on the grounds of a dispute over the victim liability of the laborer, and finally won the lawsuit, and in May this year, he received more than 1.3 million yuan in compensation for disability, medical expenses, nursing expenses, and nutrition expenses.
After a worker is diagnosed with an occupational disease, what should I do if the work-related injury insurance benefits are "stuck"?
The interviewed lawyers emphasized that, especially in the construction industry, if the foreman fails to pay work-related injury insurance for the workers, the contract-issuing party with the qualifications for the main body of employment should bear the main responsibility for the employment of the workers, that is, the corresponding liability for work-related injury insurance.