http://www.bjreview.com AUGUST 29, 2019 BEIJING REVIEW 47
FORUM
is supposed to be responsible for his or her
own health, as well as the health of his or
her family.
With the emergence of new profes-
sions, the catalogue of occupational
diseases should be expanded to fully cover
the working population in various sectors.
Whatever action needs to be taken, there
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tion to protect employees’ rights as well
as employers’ interests. To some extent,
implementing the current catalogue of oc-
cupational diseases is more important than
including cervical spondylosis on the list.
An achievable goal
Mao Jianguo (Shandong Business Daily):
Though it’s not an easy job to put cervical
spondylosis on the list of officially recog-
nized occupational diseases, still, many
things can be done to achieve this goal. For
example, if the ratio of workers in a com-
pany diagnosed with a disease far exceeds
the social average, it basically indicates
that this company is not doing well in pro-
tecting the health of its staff. In this case,
designating this disease as an occupational
disease related to the work this company
does is an obvious choice.
Official recognition of occupational
diseases enables patients to get compen-
sation and will also compel employers to
improve the work environment to reduce
the incidence of such diseases. But in real-
ity, instead of trying to provide a better
environment, some employers insist on
overtime work, regardless of the staff’s
health. Apart from cervical spondylosis,
even some neurological diseases are close-
ly connected to corporate culture.
Expanding the list of recognized oc-
cupational diseases will help counter
deterioration in corporate culture vis-a-vis
employees’ health. People prefer to have
no diseases at all rather than to get com-
pensation for treating a disease incurred
due to workplace conditions. The biggest
stumbling block to classifying cervical
spondylosis as an occupational disease is
not technical but people’s health sense.
Ding Shenyi (www.eastday.com):
In the past, occupational diseases were
related to manual work while exposed to
a toxic environment. Today, though many
people work in front of the computer and
not in a toxic environment, they still do not
feel any more relaxed than those engaged
in manual labor. This can be proven by the
rising cases of cervical spondylosis, lumbar
diseases and eye problems among office
workers. China’s Law on Prevention and
Control of Occupational Diseases needs to
be updated. Maybe it’s impossible to have
all sectors across the country accept that
cervical spondylosis is an occupational dis-
ease, but it’s still possible to try this out in a
limited number of sectors or workplaces.
The controversy stems from the com-
plexity of diseases like cervical spondylosis
and frozen shoulder. Apart from work
conditions, the modern way of living and
entertainment has also contributed to
these diseases. It’s really hard to judge theirreal cause technically.
However, technical drawbacks should
not be an excuse for delaying the clas-
sification of occupational diseases. Pilot
programs can be introduced first in big
cities and Internet and tech firms such
as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, which are
wealthy enough to offer compensation for
occupational diseases. Special institutions
should be set up to judge the diseases and
their causes.
Unlike conventional occupational dis-
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because of long-time exposure to a toxic
environment, cervical spondylosis can be
prevented by reducing work pressure and
doing more physical exercise. If companies
want to protect their staff’s health, they
should encourage innovation to boost
work efficiency instead of prodding them
to work overtime. QLI SHIGONGCopyedited by Sudeshna Sarkar