Everyday after work, I walk pass the same group of young men on my way home. There are usually 4 to 6 of them, parked near the entrance to one of the busiest bus transfer and subway stations in the city, Dongzhimen; and each of them are selling to the passersby something resembling a giant granola bar from the deck of their bicycle carts. These hefty, scrumptious- chewy-looking treats are about 3 foot long, 2 foot wide, 1 foot high, and covered with walnuts and dried fruit. Everyday as I pass them, I would check on the progress of their sales. "Is the mound almost gone? Oh, good - it's been a good day for them", I'd think to myself. Other times I'd see that there's still more than half remaining on the carts and I can't help but share in their disappointment.
Another thing that strikes me about this gang is that of their appearance: light brown hair, high foreheads; round, deep-set, those sought-after "doubled-lidded eyes"; brown skin; and some of them are sporting bushy moustaches that the wide majority of the Chinese men can't grow. With the exception of their shorter, slender frame, they don't look "Chinese". (In fact some of them might not even consider themselves Chinese, but I'm not going to open up that can of political worms right now.) These men are from the northwest, highly rural and Muslim region of China, areas that borders central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan; and the fact that they are so far from home is by no means unusual. This group of giant muesli bar peddlers are just a handful among the estimated 120 million migrant workers scattered throughout China. The literal translation for "migrant workers" in Chinese is "farm village workers", as the term "migrant worker" does not refer to urbanites that choose to move to other cities; but rather describes people from rural areas that have been forced to leave their homes in search of work, like internally-displaced economic refugees.
When you're in a large city like Beijing, you start thinking that all of the migrants in the entire country must be here. They are EVERYWHERE. They are the Sichuanian servers in the eateries; the Tibetan girls selling jewellery made of Tibetan Turquoise from the floors of the subway stations; the garbage collectors on bicycles that pull the light blue refuse bins; the army of street sweepers in fluorescent orange safety vests and white cotton masks; and the construction labourers that are pouring the concrete for the next upscale office or condo high-rise on your street. In reality, most of them, 80 to 90 million, are working in places hidden from public view, in garment factories, chemical plants, scrapyards, brickyards, fireworks shops and coal mines. Their muscle, sweat and blood contribute immensely to the gigantic, economic machine that is China, and they are also one of the most invisible and vulnerable population groups.
Many of them work in small to medium sized private enterprises, where employers refuse to provide formal contracts nor medical and disability insurance. In the absence of a well-developed worker's compensation mechanism, there is no negative financial or regulatory feedback that forces employers to pay or causes them economic loss should their employees get hurt or become ill due to their job. Thus the employers will continue to neglect their duties to make working conditions safer.
For example, it is widespread knowledge that China's coal mines are the most deadly work sites in the world. Xinhua News Agency (2006) reports that nearly 6,000 people were killed in over 3,341 coal mine accidents in 2005. Accidents and explosions at chemical factories, fireworks workshops, construction sites and other industrial operations are also common occurrences.
The issue of workplace diseases is equally pressing. Pneumoconiosis, a chronic lung disease caused by sustained exposure from the inhalation of coal, silicon, cement, and other mineral or metallic dust is the most prevalent type of workplace disease. 11,000 to 12,000 new cases are reported each year – accounting for 77% of all new cases of occupational diseases. Any official occupational disease statistics are underestimates as many millions of migrant workers are not receiving regular medical screening and services, and therefore are not diagnosed.
Though Chinese Labour and Workplace Safety Laws exist, enforcement has been weak and poorly coordinated between the various departments and levels of government with mandates to regulate this area. How does a country even began to effectively manage literally millions of enterprises that are said to be potentially involved in hazardous activities? And do they even want to? And where do they start?
I have a personal interest in occupational health because it's one of the few problems that is absolutely preventable by changing the work environment, work processes and through personal protective equipment. It's not like AIDS, Tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases where we have to constantly be on guard about drug or vaccine resistance and fight an uphill battle with controlling the spread of infections. Also I feel deeply for the otherwise able-bodied men and women, who should be living the most productive years of their lives to be unnecessarily impacted by injuries and disease that keeps them from continuing to provide for their families.
These are just a few of the issues that I am getting acquainted with during my internship, and hopefully, I won't stop at just learning about them but actually get to contribute somewhat to the alleviation of these problems.
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