Employment Injury Insurance for All Workers: The Challenges for Vietnam

The right to protection against employment injury is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1966. To implement the right, countries need to take several measures to ensure that workers can work in safe conditions and non-toxic environments. This includes prevention and control of occupational accidents and diseases, measures to minimize damage when risks occur, and provision of financial resources to mitigate the consequences of risks such as medical expenses and income loss due to injury or illness. The International Labor Organization (ILO), within its mission and mandate, has adopted Conventions and Recommendations to protect workers from occupational risks, and provide benefits for workers (and their relatives) in the event of such risks. Based on these regulations and recommendations, countries develop policies on preventing and limiting occupational risks and establishing occupational risk insurance regimes. In Vietnam, these policies currently apply to formal workers but not informal workers, even though they also face a high risk of occupational risks. To achieve social security and international integration, occupational risks should be controlled, and income security measures should be applied equally to workers in all industries and different sectors of economy. The article focuses on evaluating the challenges when implementing employment injury insurance for all workers, especially workers in the informal sector.