Representatives from professional safety and health organizations in the Asia-Pacific region gathered together to adopt the Mauritius Statement in Support of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work. The Seoul Declaration is an international charter on occupational safety and health (OSH).

 On Monday, April 19, 2010, KOSHA (President: Noh, Min-ki) held the Special Session on the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work during the 25^th APOSHO Annual Meeting & Conference.

 The Special Session was co-organized by the ILO and the ISSA in order to promote and disseminate the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work. The Seoul Declaration had been signed and adopted by 46 representatives from governments, businesses, and workers around the world during the Safety and Health Summit held on the occasion of the 18^th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in June, 2008.

 KOSHA’s Director General Dae-Yul Choi for Training and Public Relations presided over the Special Session along with Director Seiji Machida from the ILO and President Corazon De La Paz-Bernardo from the ISSA. With the presence of over 200 representatives of APOSHO member organizations and the Mauritius government, the Special Session was a valuable opportunity to hold a signing ceremony of the Mauritius Statement in support of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work, which was aimed at advocating the objectives of the Seoul Declaration and promoting its implementation.

 The Mauritius Statement in support of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work was adopted by the signing of by 25 representatives of each member country’s OSH agencies and the final signatures by KOSHA, the ILO and the ISSA. The Mauritius Statement, which proclaimed that OSH is the basic right for workers as well as the means to achieve economic development, laid the groundwork for the implementation of the Seoul Declaration and also, the development of OSH in the Asia-Pacific region.

 Statements that support the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work were adopted in the Canary Island, Spain in March 2009 (24 signatories), in Seoul, Korea in June 2009 (50 signatories), and in Dusseldorf, Germany in November 2009 (16 signatories).

 The APOSHO Annual Meeting & Conference is a gathering of 37 professional OSH organizations from 25 countries with the aim of enhancing OSH levels in the Asia-Pacific region. During the 25^th APOSHO Conference, five committee meetings are held including the Technical Committee Meeting. Representatives from APOSHO members address speeches, OSH experts give presentations and there is also an Annual General Meeting.

- KOSHA successfully hosted APOSHO Annual Conferences in 1998 and 2008. During the 25th Annual Conference held in Mauritius, Director General Dae-Yul Choi spearheaded KOSHA’s eight-member delegation.

 Director General Dae-Yul Choi said, “The Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work will play a key role in helping occupational safety and health to rise as a central value in the global community. To that end, continued attention and realistic efforts are required by professional organizations at home and abroad so that the Seoul Declaration can be widely implemented.’’