Occupational health alert: Workplace illnesses kill millions of Asians each year

Work-related illnesses and deaths in Asian countries may
be under-reported and ignored, a report says.

Millions of workers in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand may be contracting fatal diseases at work, but the suffering is often ignored, unreported and uncompensated, a labor rights group reports.

The Asia Monitor Resource Centre (AMRC) is warning that death tolls may be much higher than estimated because official figures often don’t cover deaths of migrant workers.

That is why the actual number is bound to be much higher than the 1.1 million deaths in Asia due to work-related factors as estimated by the International Labour Organisation.

Some countries like Cambodia have no laws on occupational safety and produce no official figures.

But many poisonings or exposures cause fatal diseases in Asian factory workers, including silicosis due to fine dust settling in the lungs, cadmium poisoning from working in battery factories, and a lot more.

Since occupational health and safety standards are often non-existent or not enforced, many workers may be unaware of the risks and exacerbate the risks.

Source: The Guardian

Workplace illnesses need to be prevented

Many industries and companies are working with potentially harmful materials and processes and worker health and safety has to come first, no matter where these workers are employed.

When it comes to airborne gases, chemicals and fumes, Electrocorp’s high-efficiency air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA filters can help remove pollutants and provide cleaner and healthier air.

The air cleaners for commercial and industrial applications can address a wide range of indoor air pollutants that may cause or aggravate workers’ conditions.

For more information and a consultation, contact Electrocorp today.