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Greetings! 
A primary goal of the OHTA Global Link newsletter is to share exciting developments that illustrate how OHTA is becoming a global force in occupational hygiene training. Global Link also strives to create a sense of community by highlighting occupational hygiene associations around the world that share our mission of advancing the profession. In this edition, we will turn our focus to Vietnam, a country with an amazing history and culture. We wish to thank Mr. Tuan Nguyen, VIHA Vice President (International) and his Board of Directors, as well as Dr. Albert Tien, President Emeritus of Workplace Health Without Borders-US, for their help in preparing this newsletter.   


FOCUS ON VIETNAM
Vietnam workplaces
In January 2021, Trading Economics reported that Vietnam is the 15th most populous country in the world with a population near 98 million.  The number of employed persons is approximately 53 million.  Vietnam has emerged from an economy based largely on agriculture to become the 47th largest economy in the world.  Mining is one of the country’s largest industries given their extensive mineral deposits that include bauxite, tungsten, titanium, phosphate, coal, and iron ore.  Other large industries include electronics, oil and gas, construction, and food processing. (World Atlas, 2021)
Occupational health and safety statistics
Statistics from 2019 indicated that the industry sectors in Vietnam with high injury and fatality rates were service, construction, mining/mineral exploitation, machinery and metallurgy, and construction material production.  

The service sector (which includes maintenance and repair activities) had the highest number of work-related fatalities accounting for 19.2% of the total number of cases in 2019.  The construction industry accounted for 17.12% of fatal accidents with falls from high elevation representing a significant portion of the incidents.  Mining and mineral exploitation, machinery and metallurgy, and construction material production had fatal accident rates of 10.81%, 9.01%, and 8.11% respectively. (Vietnam Occupational Accident Report for 2019, No. 647/TB-LĐTBXH Ha Noi, February 26, 2020)
Vietnam occupational injuries and fatalities from 2012-2019
Source: Department of Labor Safety http://antoanlaodong.gov.vn/
Chemical, biological, and physical hazards are all a concern in Vietnam from workplace exposures to solvents, caustic solutions, lead, mercury, pesticides, x-ray equipment, noise, vibration, and heat stress.  Data published by the Vietnamese National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health (NIOEH) indicated that out of 320,000 occupational medical examinations done in 2018, there were 3,500 cases of work-related illness including: noise induced hearing loss (67%); silicosis (17%); black lung disease (9.9%); and chronic bronchitis from work-related activities (2%). 
Workplace regulatory initiatives
A notable directive from the Vietnam government in recent years was a proposed ban of chrysotile asbestos roofing products by 2023.  This was promulgated in accordance with the recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Labor Organization (ILO) due to the harmful health effects of asbestos.  However, this directive was met with some pushbacks from various industries in the country.   As a result, regulations regarding the management of construction materials with strict control of materials containing asbestos have been redrafted a few times, with a plan to defer the ban in Vietnam until 2030.

A new workplace regulation went into effect in October 2020 focused on high hazard industries.  This regulation provides enforcement guidelines and a list of occupations bound by strict requirements for safe work practices.  Similar to actions by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Vietnam list includes industries that show the highest incidence of preventable occupational injuries and illnesses.   Industries on the list must meet strict occupational safety and health requirements and include those in manufacturing, assembling, operating, maintaining, repairing and dismantling of heavy equipment and machinery.  In construction, the list includes operations using heavy duty construction and demolition equipment, such as sludge dredging vessels, excavators, bulldozers, rock crushing, powered shovels, and building construction material processing equipment.  The list also includes hazardous material production, use, and storage operations.
(Circular No. 06/2020/TT-BLDTBXH dated August 20, 2020 of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs)
Goals set and advances made
Occupational hygienists in Vietnam have made some remarkable advances in the profession through both local commitment and global collaboration.  The Vietnamese Industrial Hygiene Association (VIHA) was founded in 2014 to improve, promote, and develop the professional practice of occupational hygiene so as to improve and protect worker health and well-being.   To accomplish this lofty goal, the VIHA sets some clear objectives that are described on their website (www.viha.org.vn).  In addition to offering their members technical training and networking opportunities locally, VIHA actively collaborates and cooperates with the global occupational hygiene community.  

The goal is not only to expand the number of occupational hygienists in Vietnam but also to advance their professional competency such that Vietnamese hygienists can achieve internationally recognized certification.  At this time, VIHA has 25 standing members and the current officers include Mr. Binh Pham, Interim President, Doctor Dung Nguyen, Vice President (Asia), Doctor Nga Dao, Board of Director and Mr. Tuan Nguyen, Vice President (International).

To enhance collaboration and cooperation with the global occupational hygiene communities, VIHA has joined the Asian Network Occupational Hygiene (ANOH) as a Board Member Organization.  VIHA is also a member organization of the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA) with representative member on the Board.  

OHTA has been collaborating with VIHA and other volunteer groups to provide OHTA training courses in Vietnam since 2016.  
Success stories from Vietnam 
 MR TRAN KHAC HUY
COFICO COMPANY HSE MANAGER
ATTENDED OHTA COURSE IN HCM CITY
"During the OHTA W501 training course on “Measurement of Hazardous Substances and Risk Assessment” that I took in 2018, I was able to learn and improve my knowledge about the working environment.  I learned how to measure toxic gases and contaminants in the workplace.  With these newly found knowledges and skills, I was able to apply them for my business and other enterprises to minimize chemical and dust exposures.  

The enthusiasm and dedication of the instructors from the Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB), National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH/CDC) and the Vietnamese Institute of Occupation and Environment Health (NIOEH) had contributed much to the success of the class.  At the same time, the contents in the lessons were very realistic and they allowed me to easily apply the knowledge from the class to my workplace.  The class also helped me to understand more about various safe work practices being done in other enterprises.
"
 HIEN T.T NGO
"My name is Hien T.T Ngo. I currently work as a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Thang Long University, Hanoi, Vietnam. 
I joined the Training Course on Monitoring Working Environment (W501) as a trainee, which was held on September 13 – 17, 2018 at the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health (NIOEH), Hanoi, Vietnam. The training course was very interesting, effective, comprehensive, and beneficial for me as well as other trainees.

The knowledge that I gained from the course included 1) How to identify hazards and risk factors, potential health effects, occupational diseases, and injuries in the workplace; 2) How to apply appropriate measures and methods/techniques for assessing exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace; 3) How to do occupational health risk assessment; and 4) Understanding and practicing using equipment to measure specific airborne contaminants including biological, dust, fumes, vapors, and gases monitoring.

During the course, all the participants and I were able to share and exchange our understanding or experiences on occupational hygiene, air sampling theory and practice, occupational health risk assessment activities through group discussion, oral presentation, and doing assignments, and practices. 

Those achieved understanding and practice are extremely needed for my work. From that, I could improve my lectures on environmental and occupational health for undergraduate and graduate students as well as effectively conduct sampling procedures of hazardous substances and their health risk assessment in field investigations/projects.

Finally, I hope that I will have further opportunities to participate in other training courses related to occupational health and safety, occupational and environmental health risk assessment, and management to enhance my knowledge and practical activities for better public health in general and worker health in particular."
NEW OHTA WEBSITE JUST LAUNCHED!
New design and new name ...
 www.ohtatraining.org
OHTA has a brand new website with a new name, www.ohtatraining.org. Our aim has been to make the website user-friendly and simple to navigate, with content available in six languages: English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese and Spanish. We've enhanced the search function for our training resources, so that users can more easily find what they're looking for, and Approved Training Providers can benefit from the improvements to promote their OHTA approved courses.  We hope you like it! If you have any feedback, let us know at team@ohtatraining.org
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If you have any feedback on this newsletter or would like to suggest a topic for a future edition, please email Deborah Dietrich (dfdietrich@sbcglobal.net) or Jason Hodgkiss (jason@onadvice.co.uk). 
 
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