Life turned upside down
More than 10 years ago, Ms. Le Thi Thao (born 1976, Hung Phu ward, Can Tho city) had a work accident while working at a private brick kiln. While putting soil into a mixer, her leg was caught in the machine, losing one leg, suffering about 75% injury.
The accident caused her life to fall into a deadlock when her two children were very young. "At that time, I just thought if something happened to me, no one would raise the children. The children were too young, so I had to try to live, try to overcome it," Ms. Thao recalled.
Because she works as a freelancer and does not sign contracts, when an accident occurs, Ms. Thao is not entitled to occupational accident insurance or long-term support. The brick kiln owner only supports treatment costs, while living and taking care of her children are all managed by the family.
In the early years after the accident, her life was particularly difficult. Losing one leg, she was almost unable to work, had difficulty walking and often fell.
After many years of adapting to a new life, she started selling lottery tickets to earn extra income. Up to now, she has been attached to this job for about 5-6 years. Despite unstable income, she still tries to help her husband take care of the children and cover living expenses.
Mentioning the proposal to expand the occupational accident insurance policy, Ms. Thao expressed her wish that self-employed workers, elderly workers or people who unfortunately have accidents like her will have more support.
If there is a support policy, I am very happy. People who have accidents or are disabled like us will have more motivation to try to do business and take care of our families," she shared.
Ms. Thao is just one of many cases of workers having accidents but not having full social security protection.
Workplace accidents still cause great damage
According to Deputy Director of the Department of Employment (Ministry of Home Affairs) Chu Thi Hanh, total damage from workplace accidents in 2025 is estimated at more than 14,000 billion VND, including treatment costs, compensation and other costs.
In 2025, the number of labor accidents decreased by 1,282 cases, equivalent to a decrease of 15.47% compared to the previous year. The number of victims also decreased by 1,316 people. However, the non-contracted labor sector still has many potential risks when the number of fatal labor accidents increased to 146 cases, causing 150 deaths.
Ms. Chu Thi Hanh said that the reason is that many businesses have not fully implemented regulations on occupational safety and health; management is still formalistic, while workers lack safety skills and are still subjective.
Faced with this reality, the Ministry of Home Affairs is proposing to supplement regulations on applying the level of occupational accident and disease insurance contribution for elderly workers according to the Labor Code.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, many elderly workers continue to work but are not yet required to participate in occupational accident and disease insurance. The addition of this group aims to expand protection, in accordance with the actual use of labor and increase synchronization between labor law and social insurance.
