Construction companies are cutting corners on work safety regulations, causing more workplace accidents.
Scaffold collapse in Ha Tinh
High profile accidents at workplaces have killed at least 17 people and injured dozens more in the first five months of this year.
There were 6,709 cases last year, which killed 630 and injured 1,544.
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said the construction sector had the worst record, accounting for 30 percent of work-related accidents.
The collapse of a huge scaffold at Vung Ang Economic Zone in Ha Tinh Province in March killed 14 workers and injured dozens more.
Three people died after a crane in Dong Thap Province toppled into a street.
Ministry vice head Doan Mau Diep said 70 percent of the accidents could be traced back to employer neglect, 15 percent the result of workers not following safeguards, while 15 percent were still being investigated.
The head of the Work Safety and Hygiene Office at Hanoi's Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Bach Quoc Viet, said some companies were hiring high school graduates and giving them three months' training to operate heavy machinery, adding that "the quality of teachers in work safety training courses is going down."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport said investors and constractors, especially sub-contractors, did not pay attention to safety management; safety equipment was inadequate, and penalties were too low.
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs said workplace safety would be reviewed and new plans developed in cooperation with state agencies.
