June 2, 2015

What can we do to bridge the yawning gap between developing and developed nations in access to workplace health and safety? Answering that question drives many ICOH leaders attending this year’s Congress.

“‘Bridge the World’ to me means, reducing inequalities and increasing coverage of workers worldwide,” Sergio Iavicoli, ICOH’s secretary general, told reporters at a press conference Monday. “According to the WHO, less than 50% of workers globally are covered by OHS, so they need access to prevention, intervention, good practices” to lead a more productive life.

Their mission reflects this Congress’s theme, which is being pursued in two directions, ICOH President Kazutaka Kogi explained: to provide action-based OHS to “all workers” around the world, and to build initiatives at the workplace level to protect workers.

“Since there are huge gaps between sectors, between countries, we need to make special efforts to fill those gaps,” he said, adding that Congress papers show progress in both directions.

KOSHA President Lee, Young Soon said that to help bridge the gap, Korea intends to extend more OSH assistance to developing countries, by, among others, helping set up training centers and sending educational materials there.

With 2,266 attendees from 106 countries as of Monday, the 31st ICOH Congress covers a huge geographic base. But with 200 scientific sessions, it also offers immense research diversity, said Prof. Bonnie Rogers, ICOH vice president ? a diversity that lets OSH researchers cover more ground.

“The scope of this Congress, in terms of looking at hazards at work - and the hazards are global - is significant because it spans biological, chemical, and physical hazards, but it also looks at psychosocial hazards. There are many psychosocial hazards that need to be addressed.”

Prof. Jorma Rantanen, former president of ICOH, summed up the Congress’s mission best by merging famous quotes of U.S. human rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., and U.S. President Barack Obama: “We have a dream to provide OHS for every worker in the world, and I believe we can.”