Overview

Labour legislation in all six GMS countries contains provisions outlining the duties of employers as regards to accidents in the workplace, and occupational illnesses.

Available Burmese legislation contains limited provisions for occupational, health and safety, with the exception of work undertaken in the mining industry. Here, Burmese legislation stipulates that a Chief Inspector is responsible for inspecting the health, sanitation, safety, measures taken for the prevention of accidents, and welfare of the personnel and workers in a mine, and that the holder of a mining permit must make provisions for safety and the prevention of accidents in a mine and their implementation, implement plans relating to the welfare, health, sanitation and discipline of personnel and workers in a mine, and must report accidents and loss of life from accidents in a mine.

In Cambodia, workers of all kinds are entitled to medical assistance (benefits in kind, medical treatment and medicament as well as hospitalization) and to all surgical assistance and prostheses deemed necessary after suffering an occupational accident. Additionally, where an occupational accident leads to death or permanent disability, compensation is to be paid to the victim or his or her beneficiaries as an annuity.

Chinese Labour Law states that workers are to be given social insurance benefits in the event that they suffer from illness, injury, or a disability caused by work related injury or occupational disease, which must be ‘timely paid in full’. Additionally, employers may not revoke labour contracts where workers have ‘totally or partially lost the ability to work due to occupational diseases or injuries suffered at work’ or where they are receiving medical treatment for diseases or injuries.

In Lao PDR, employers must provide appropriate help to a worker who suffers from a labour accident or occupational disease, and must pay for the cost of treatment if the employee is not a member of a social insurance scheme. Furthermore, throughout the period of medical treatment and health rehabilitation, the employee shall be entitled to receive his regular salary or wages, for a period not exceeding six months.

In Thailand, employers must provide immediate medical treatment to workers who have been injured at work, or who are suffering from an occupational disease, and that they must pay for all medical expenses, including rehabilitation.

In Vietnam, employers must bear all medical expenses incurred from the time of the first aid or emergency treatment to the completion of the medical treatment in respect of an employee who was injured in a work-related accident or contracted an occupational disease.