By Luo Ai , Xie Minru and Guo Xian King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory group

luo_aiOccupational diseases are defined as the diseases employees suffer due to their exposure to toxic or harmful factors such as dust and radioactive substances as a result of occupational activities. Companies should be responsible for the prevention and control of occupational disease. However, in practice, many companies usually ignore it at first and eventually pay a high price when hazards in the workplace have led to serious illness. For example, an international high-tech supplier ignored occupational health management and broke the law by using toxic solvents between 2008 and 2009, leading to 137 employees of the company poisoned by the chemical n-hexane. After the incident happened, the company was not only liable to pay huge compensation to all the affected employees but also subject to several administrative penalties, including corrections within a prescribed time limit and a large amount of fine.

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