Chen Guo, a minor migrant worker from Shuangfeng County, Hunan Province, started working at Dongguan Qianfeng Electronics Factory on February 18, 2013. In the recent week, due to the factory's rush to complete orders, Chen Guo worked overtime for 7 hours every day for a whole week. Chen Guo's main job was to be responsible for the testing of induction cookers. When testing the induction cookers, water needed to be placed on the induction cooker and continuously heated for 1 hour. Two rows of boiling hot water kept rolling, so the temperature in the workshop sometimes reached about 37 degrees Celsius.
On May 28, 2013, Chen Guo asked the team leader for leave due to physical discomfort and went back to the dormitory. After that, he started having a high fever. After going to the hospital, he returned to the dormitory to continue resting. Later, as the high fever persisted even after taking medicine, he was finally admitted to Dongguan Donghua Hospital for treatment and died on May 31, 2013 due to ineffective treatment. The final diagnosis of Donghua Hospital for Chen Guo was that he died of multiple organ failure caused by severe heatstroke.
Since the time from Chen Guo's first medical visit after falling ill to his death has exceeded the legally stipulated time limit of death within 48 hours of a sudden illness, the factory did not agree to the work-related injury application. Under pressure from the family members, the factory was willing to bear a funeral expense compensation of about 40,000 yuan. The work-related injury application submitted by the family members had not yet received a reply from the factory and the social security department.
As there had been no satisfactory reply all the time, the family members of the deceased hung banners for safeguarding their rights in front of the factory, but they were forcefully taken away by the public security department. It was alleged that an official from the Labor Bureau once said indifferently, "In Dongguan, it's not unusual for three or five people to die." As of the time of writing this article, the family members of the deceased in this case were still waiting for the final handling result from the government.
It should be noted that in any situation, every life is precious and should be respected. And relevant departments should handle such incidents in a fair, just and responsible manner. At the same time, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers, especially minors, is of great significance.
The Main Gate of Dongguan Qianfeng Electronics Factory
Certificate of Illness of Chen Guo
Medical Certificate of Death of Chen Guo
Chen Guo's Attendance Record (showing that he worked overtime continuously for 7 hours every day in the last week)
Chen Guo's Leave Application
Chen Guo's work permit
The family members were dissatisfied with the factory's irresponsibility and demanded a reasonable response from the factory at the factory gate.
The family members of Chen Guo were taken away by the police.
Extended Report:
Chen Guo's Death Finally Recognized as a Work-related Injury
After going through many twists and turns, with the help of Zhang Zhiru, the person in charge of the Chunfeng Labor Dispute Service Department in Shenzhen, Chen Guo's family members submitted an application for work-related injury identification to the Social Security Bureau of Shijie Town, Dongguan City. After a period of waiting, Chen Guo's family members received the "Decision on Identifying Work-related Injury" on the afternoon of June 25. The Shijie Social Security Sub-bureau of Dongguan City finally determined that: "The accidental injury (or occupational disease) that Chen Guo suffered on May 28, 2013, conforms to the provisions of Article 10, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the Regulations on Work-related Injury Insurance in Guangdong Province, and falls within the scope of work-related injury identification. Now it is identified (or regarded as) a work-related injury."
After that, Chen Guo's family members demanded compensation of more than 700,000 yuan from Qianfeng Electronics Factory, but the two parties failed to reach an agreement.
"The Qianfeng Electronics Factory told us that they could only pay less than 500,000 yuan. They said this was in accordance with the regulatory standards. We have to bear the medical expenses and the expenses of more than ten of us who are here on our own," Chen Guo's family members told the reporter.
Zhang Zhiru told this author that the compensation for work-related death consists of three parts, namely the funeral subsidy, the one-time work-related death subsidy, and the pension for dependent relatives. He said, "In general work-related injury accidents, the workers who suffer work-related injuries usually have some faults. In this case, the employer arranged for Chen Guo to work for an excessively long time in a high-temperature environment. The illegal act of the factory directly led to Chen Guo's death. Therefore, the employer should not only bear the work-related death compensation but also assume certain civil liabilities. So, the compensation amount should be higher than the legal standard, and I think this is reasonable and legal."
On July 3, the two parties reached an agreement. In addition to paying several tens of thousands of yuan in expenses that Chen Guo's family members had in Dongguan, Qianfeng Electronics Factory would also pay more than 520,000 yuan in compensation.
China Youth Daily, Zhou Shanshan
