Measuring and providing feedback on residents’ attention to occupational health issues is of significant importance for the optimization of relevant policies. This study focuses on the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for the Control of Occupational Disease Hazards (13th FYP CODH), using text mining techniques to capture the residents’ attention to occupational health issues in provinces from 2013 to 2021. Based on the synthetic control method, a counterfactual comparison unit was constructed to compare the differences between the actual and synthetic values of residents’ attention rate to evaluate the implementation effect of the13th FYP CODH. The results indicate that, regarding residents’ attention rates, the13th FYP CODH has a brief promotional effect on the attention levels of residents in the responsive provinces. As the policy efficacy undergoes periods of strong effectiveness, fatigue, and revival, the residents’ attention rates exhibit a “U”-shaped evolving trend. In terms of synthetic control differences, compared to Hunan, Shandong province experiences positive policy effects only during the period of strong effectiveness. As time progresses, the policy effects become less apparent, indicating a phenomenon of “subsequent weakening” in policy efficacy. Additionally, medical and health conditions, urbanization level, and technological innovation capacity positively moderate the implementation effects of the13th FYP CODH while industrial structure exerts a negative moderating effect on its implementation effects. This study examines the policy effects of China’s occupational health policy from the perspective of residents’ attention levels, offering insights that are intuitive, sustainable, and implementable.