Migrant workers in China are a distinctive group due to the existence of the hukou system under which they continue to face restrictions on housing, education, and health care in urban areas. The equal employment legislation does not solve the discrimination problems. Compared with their urban counterparts, migrant workers are more vulnerable, in terms of both precarity of employment and the occupational hazards that they are exposed to, and badly need OHS protection. Any weakness of OHS regime will have a disproportionately adverse effect on migrant workers.China’s OHS regime has been through constant evolution. The old prevention structure, which separated occupational health from occupational safety, was proved to be less effective in protecting migrant workers. In recognition of its deficiencies, China’s top legislature made adjustments to the OHS legal framework by enacting and updating a series of laws. The new prevention structure, unifying the occupational health administration and the occupational safety administration, represents a step forward in terms of OHS protection for migrant workers.According to worker citizenship theory, China’s OHS regime can be categorized as a direct state regulation model. It carries with it both the strengths and weaknesses of direct state regulation models. On the participation rights dimension, the lack of consultative joint OHS committees and the lack of effective collective bargaining shut migrant workers out from the decision-making process on OHS matters. On the social rights dimension, the gendered and aged-based approach becomes a hindrance for female migrant workers and young migrant workers. Furthermore, levels of enforcement vary considerably across different periods and areas, subject to the ever-changing priorities on the government’s agenda. Migrant workers are still facing tremendous obstacles and challenges in obtaining access to adequate protection under the current OHS regime in China. Future reform measures should focus on delivering OHS protection for migrant workers in the informal sector, strengthening participation, and centralizing OHS administration, especially enforcement.Les travailleurs migrants en Chine constituent un groupe distinctif à cause de l’existence du système Hukou en vertu duquel ils font face à des restrictions en matière de logement, d’éducation et de soins de santé dans les centres urbains. En comparaison de leurs homologues urbains, les travailleurs migrants sont plus vulnérables, tant en terme de précarité d’emploi qu’en termes de risques professionnels auxquels ils sont exposés, et, de ce fait, ils auraient un plus grand besoin de protection en matière de santé et sécurité au travail. En effet, toute défaillance dans ce type de protection est susceptible d’avoir des effets nocifs disproportionnés sur ces travailleurs.Le système public de protection en matière de santé et sécurité au travail (SST) en Chine a connu une certaine évolution. L’ancienne structure de prévention, laquelle créait une distinction entre santé au travail e...
The complexity of implementing a system-wide disability prevention model in a country as large and diverse as China is well-recognized. Improved efforts are thus required for international knowledge-sharing that can empower greater research utilization of effective disability prevention methods in China. The development of well-connected communities of practice might be a helpful strategy for enhancing stakeholders' perceptions, attitudes and collaborative efforts towards locally relevant and cultural sensitive solutions to work disability.
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