The Hanoi People’s Committee on March 14 launched a campaign in response to the 17th annual National Week on Occupational Health and Safety – Fire and Explosion Prevention, which will take place from March 15-21.

The committee requested all departments, local authorities and people and particularly over 1.5 million workers in over 170,000 enterprises, to join hands to prevent and minimise occupational accidents and diseases.

They were also asked to strictly follow the Party Central Committee Secretariat’s instruction on intensifying labour safety and health during the cause of industrialisation, modernisation and international integration, and the Prime Minister’s decision involving firefighters’ rescue task.

The municipal leaders also called for stricter inspections over and punishment of violation acts.

At the event, the municipal firefighting police gave training in firefighting and rescue skills for more than 800 workers and representatives of enterprises in the city.

In 2014, as many as 132 industrial accidents occurred in Hanoi, killing 34 people and injuring four. The deadly accidents occurred mainly in construction and electricity.

The city also recorded 166 fires and explosions across the city, claiming 18 lives and leaving 16 injured, causing estimated economic loss of 200 billion VND (9.3 million USD).-VNA