Abstract
With the gradual industrial development in China between the early 1950's and 1960's, occupational hazards were major problems in working populations. During that period, the equipment and facilities for production were very simple. The workers were exposed to very high concentrations of various dusts, toxic chemicals, and physical agents, with very poor working conditions. The number of cases of occupational diseases increased rapidly; therefore, the serious occupational health problem drew both special public and governmental attentions. For many years, the Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Labor and National Trade Union worked closely together, trying to solve these problems. Under the administration of both ministries, a number of organizations were established and have provided industrial hygiene and occupational health services to the factories and employees. The working conditions were improved a lot and the incidences of occupational diseases and injuries decreased thereafter. Since the early 1980's, there has been a rapid development of township industry in rural areas, with more than 90 million employees now. The Chinese industrial hygiene and occupational health professionals face a big new challenge and are encountering much more serious situations than ever before (Public Health Bureau of Wuxi County, 1986; ZHU, 1986; ZHANG et al., 1987; HUANG et al., 1987).
