湖南武岡市塵肺病調查
李岱為紐約時報中文網撰稿 2013年08月24日
Li Dai for The New York Times
武岡市文坪鎮的一些塵肺病患者。
8月初，湖南省邵陽產煤重鎮武岡市的文坪鎮一千多名塵肺患者聯名給邵陽武岡市政府、市矽肺辦、市信訪辦、市人社局、市民政局、市衛生局、市安監局等有關部門寫了一封公開信，強烈要求進行工傷認定，依法享受職業病待遇。
其實，從今年5月起，文坪鎮及周邊鄉鎮的眾多塵肺病患者就
開始了集體維權行動，多次集體去武岡市政府討要說法，人數一度增加到600多人。然而，鎮政府卻派人上門威脅他們說，如果再鬧事就取消參與者的低保甚至要
把他們抓起來。文坪鎮石井村3組的三期塵肺患者劉先良參加了6月底的一次集體維權行動，當晚他的低保證就被鎮政府收走了。
相关文章
邵陽武岡市（縣級市）是全國百強產煤縣之一，煤礦是當地經濟發展的支柱產業。根據「邵陽新聞在線」今年2月一篇文章提供的數據，僅鄧家鋪、龍江兩個主礦區煤炭儲量7875萬噸，潛在價值達236.25億元，可供2個年產30萬噸的礦井開採70年以上。
武岡市因煤而興，但由於採掘技術落後以及忽視勞動保護，大量的煤礦工人患上了塵肺病。
2013年7月23日至24日，我作為塵肺病救助志願者和
湖南電視台公共頻道等媒體前往邵陽武岡市調查當地塵肺病情況。走訪期間，當地政府並不希望我們調查當地塵肺病的真實情況，更不希望公之於眾，不斷採取跟
蹤、盤查等手段阻礙我們調研。雖然如此，經過兩天的走訪，我們還是獲得了寶貴的一手資料。
文坪鎮是武岡產煤重鎮，上個世紀八九十年代，文坪鎮內的小
煤窯幾乎「遍地開花」。據文坪鎮黨委委員喻心爍向隨行的《瀟湘晨報》記者介紹說，那時候的小煤窯有幾千家。由於生產工藝落後、防護條件差，下井的村民長期
吸入各類粉塵。經過2012年整合，文坪鎮目前有國有煤礦2家，私營煤礦6家。曾在鎮內的尤麻坪煤礦連續幹了8年的礦工李中秋介紹說，在井下工作期間，有
很長一段時間沒有任何防護措施，打的是干鑽，沒有濕化作業，粉塵濃度相當高。當時煤礦井下僅有鼓風機做除塵設備。
李中秋說：「我們沒有勞動保護用品，連口罩都沒發一個。」
目前仍在井下挖煤的文坪鎮火雲村塵肺患者李友華說，到現在井下仍然採用乾式作業（打幹鑽）。他說：「這樣的煤礦在武岡還十分普遍。單位曾經發放過口罩，是普通的棉紗口罩，對於防粉起不到什麼效果，而且每人每個月只發放四隻口罩，長期重複使用這樣的口罩極易造成二次污染。」
人口超過4萬的文坪鎮如今已成為塵肺病重災區。塵肺病患者
李中秋、肖雄國、蔣康平等人曾自發對全鎮26個村進行走訪統計，並登記造冊。他們統計的結果，目前文坪鎮的塵肺病患者有1472人，其中一期病人607
人、二期病人487人、三期病人378人。據他們進一步調查，邵陽武岡市原龍江區（現文坪、龍溪、司馬沖、雙江、大甸等鎮）有近三千名塵肺患者，而武岡除
了龍江礦區外，還有鄧家鋪礦區也是產煤大區，估計塵肺患者數量也很驚人，但目前還無人調查和統計。
我們走訪調查發現，這些塵肺患者基本都沒有得到職業病賠
償。他們中的大部分人已經喪失了勞動能力，因無錢醫治很多人放棄了治療，坐等死亡降臨。很多塵肺病家庭都是債台高築。我們調查了解到，近三年來僅文坪鎮就
有50多位塵肺患者因得不到有效治療而死亡，目前，還有近400位三期塵肺患者已瀕臨死亡。
武岡市文坪鎮三聯村塵肺患者李清迪7月剛剛去世，去世時僅僅50歲，他的一個哥哥也因塵肺病於去年去世。文坪鎮三聯村村委秘書李小剛告訴我們說：「三聯村目前有塵肺病人86人。」這些患塵肺病的村民都在本鎮的煤礦採過煤。
文坪鎮雙江村八組的李烈偉，50歲，在鎮上劉家村的小煤窯
一直從事挖煤工作長達20多年。六年前被確診為塵肺病，至今已經卧床四年。現在他病情惡化，已經無法自主呼吸，需要通過呼吸機來維持生命。為治病，家裡已
經為李烈偉花去了14萬元，治病的錢很多都是借債。李烈偉家裡有八十多歲的老母親，下有年幼的孫子孫女，全家的生活來源僅僅是兒子每月2000多元的打工
收入和妻子與老母親的種菜收入。他所在的雙江村目前約有二、三期塵肺病患者45人，像他這樣嚴重的還有三四個，此前已經有三名患者去世。
文坪鎮花園村61歲的三期塵肺病患者姚作元，在文坪鎮的7家煤礦先後工作了25年。2010年被診斷為三期塵肺病。三年來，他的體重從120多斤降到了60多斤。目前，他感到呼吸越來越困難，每天受疾病困擾他都無法入睡。家裡已一貧如洗，他基本上放棄了治療。
從2010年起，武岡市政府協調各鄉鎮煤礦，對塵肺病患者
進行補償，標準是一期、二期、三期分別一次性補償1萬、2萬和3萬。患者在拿到補償時必須簽署「塵肺病一次性了結」的字樣，一次性補償意味着自動放棄今後
追索的權利。我們走訪發現，目前仍有一部分塵肺病患者沒有領到補償，而1萬至3萬的補償對於塵肺病患者需要支付的巨額治療費用來說只是杯水車薪。
我們在武岡市人民醫院重症監護病房對文坪鎮田中村三期塵肺
患者王林生進行了訪談。這已經是他三年來第八次住院了，每次住院都要花費二、三萬元，一年至少花費在五萬元以上。此前他曾在文坪的茶山灣煤礦工作了十多
年，更早的時候在當地的小煤窯四處挖煤。因病情較重，在政府協調下，王林生獲得了2.9萬元的一次性補償，這在當地算是相當高了。當時他們拿到補償款時簽
了一份收據，收據上寫有「塵肺補償一次性了結」的字樣。收據只有一式一份，掌握在政府手上。
在醫院，我們還見到了58歲的塵肺病三期患者蔣紹秋，他在文坪鎮當地的小煤窯工作了20多年，2010年被確診為塵肺三期，並發氣胸和肺大泡。這是他一年半以來第八次住院，總共花費了十幾萬元。他當時拿到的一次性補償款是1.5萬元。
據李中秋等很多塵肺患者反映，武岡所有煤礦每個月都要從每
個礦工的工資里扣除60到100元的安全費，按每月60元計算，武岡近萬名礦工，每年被扣掉的安全費就高達700多萬元，這些年來，這筆費用累計也是一筆
巨款。但礦工們很疑惑，這筆錢最終到哪裡去了，為何這些年裡，他們這些礦工沒有從中得到任何安全保障。
8月5日，當地有10位塵肺病代表拿着本文開頭所說的那封公開信再次到武岡市政府反映情況，得到的答覆卻是：「你們要去找企業，找政府是沒用。」
聽到這個答覆，塵肺病人們一臉茫然，因為當年的很多企業都已經不復存在，很多發了財的老闆們也早已不知去向。
李岱是塵肺病民間救助者。
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
The proposal to limit crystalline silica, which causes the
irreversible respiratory disease silicosis, would strengthen exposure
limits adopted four decades ago.
二氧化矽粉塵 silica
silicosis
[名][U]《病理学》珪肺(けいはい)症, 珪紛症.
sìl・i・cót・ic
[形] |
Obama administration proposes new standards for silica dust
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Friday proposed long-awaited rules for silica dust in the workplace that would cut exposure levels in half, amid mounting evidence that current standards do not protect workers from increased risk of lung cancer and silicosis, a progressive, incurable disease. The rules developed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration would revise standards set more than 40 years ago for workers in a range of industries, including shipbuilding, railroads and construction. But with a domestic oil and gas boom driven by hydraulic fracturing, a production method that uses prodigious amounts of fine sand, a growing number of workers in the energy sector now risk exposure to high levels of respirable silica, a 2012 federal study showed.
Under the new standards, the legal limit for workplace silica dust concentrations in all industries would be 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an eight-hour workday. Until now, separate standards existed for the construction sector at 250 micrograms of respirable silica, and for general industry and maritime at 100 micrograms.
About 1.8 million construction workers and 320,000 in general industry and maritime are exposed to silica dust, according to OSHA. If the new rules go into effect, they would save nearly 700 lives per year and prevent 1,600 new cases of silicosis annually, the agency estimated.
"Every year, exposed workers not only lose their ability to work, but also to breathe,” said David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. “This proposal is expected to prevent thousands of deaths from silicosis … as well as lung cancer, other respiratory diseases and kidney disease.”
Michaels said the proposed rules took a long time to develop, in part because of input from many stakeholders, including industry.
But some business groups criticized the proposed new standards as unnecessary. “Because our companies have successfully protected their workers under the current permissible exposure limit (PEL), we do not believe there is a proven need to lower that level and disagree with OSHA’s proposal to cut that limit in half,” said Mark Ellis, president of the National Industrial Sand Assn., whose members are mining companies that supply sand for the oil and gas industry, glass manufacturing, foundries and other industrial uses. “We believe our shared goal of eradicating silicosis from American workplaces can be achieved under the current exposure limit.”
The sand mining companies are regulated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. But the agency “will adopt whatever OSHA does,” said Joan Gartlan, spokeswoman for the sand association.
The American Petroleum Institute, the main lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, said it was still reviewing the proposed silica rules.
In 2012, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) examined concentrations of silica dust in the air at 11 sites around the country where oil and gas are produced by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The process involves shooting millions of gallons of water laced with chemicals and sand deep underground to shatter rock formations in order to unlock oil and gas deposits. The sand props open the fractures. Workers are exposed to silica dust as the sand is moved around until it is mixed with water.
NIOSH researchers found that silica concentrations exceeded the current, more lax OSHA standard in 47% of the 116 samples taken at the 11 sites. More than three-quarters of the samples, or 79%, were greater than the more stringent 50-microgram standard now proposed by OSHA.
“When we got the NIOSH presentation and saw those numbers, we immediately reached out to the oil and gas industry,” Michaels said. “Many of them agreed that these data raise very serious concerns, and we’re working with industry to reduce exposure to silica.”
Worries about silica dust exposure have roiled communities where sand is being mined to feed the oil and gas boom. In western Wisconsin, where sand mining is expanding, community activists have been frustrated by the lack of state and federal regulations governing communities’ exposure to silica dust.
This week, the Wisconsin county that has issued the most mining permits, Trempealeau County, imposed a moratorium on sand extraction until it gathers more information on health and environmental effects.
Michaels said he thought the oil and gas industry would meet the tougher silica limits even before they are implemented.
Separately, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said that deaths from workplace injuries in the oil and gas sector rose by 23% from 2011 to 2012, to 138 fatalities. “Job gains in oil and gas and construction have come with more fatalities, and that is unacceptable,” said Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez. “Employers must take job hazards seriously and live up to their legal and moral obligation to send their workers home safe every single day. No worker should lose their life for a paycheck."
OSHA said it would accept public comment about the new silica rules for 90 days after they are published in the Federal Register and then hold public hearings. It did not set a date for the issuance of final silica rules.
沒有留言:
張貼留言