A year to go before XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work

-We have a year to go before the opening of XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work to be held in COEX Convention Center, Seoul for 4 days from June 29 to July 2 2008. Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) has prepared the World Congress by launching the planning organization for the congress in January 2006 since it received the approval to host the World Congress from International Labour Organization(ILO) and the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in September 2005. KOSHA also established the Secretariat for the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in January 2007, and have systematically prepared the giant event. 

-The World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, which has been held every three year since it took place for the first time in Rome, Italy in 1955, is the world’s biggest international forum in terms of the safety and health field. This World Congress in Korea in 2008 is the second one that has ever been held in Asia as India had also hosted it. The World Congress will be a great opportunity for safety and health related decision makers and professionals, those representing workers and employers, and social security experts to share information and knowledge related to the prevention of the industrial accidents each other and to mutually exchange experiences and know-how regarding the prevention of the industrial accidents and occupational diseases         

                                                                        The history of the World Congress

-There will be a lot of presentations and discussions over XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work held next year under the motto of “Safety and health at work : A societal responsibility”, which will focus on the four main topics such as “Strategies and Programmes of Safety and Health for the Future”, “Impact of Changes of Working Conditions on Workers' Protection”, “New Challenges and Opportunities in Occupational Safety and Health”, “Safety and Health Management Systems”. Joint organizers including the ILO, the ISSA and KOSHA have prepared the world congress by closely cooperating each other in order to provide a practical chance to discuss the recently emerging major issues in relation to safety and health and to come up with the measures to handle the safety and health related problems.

-Over the next year’s World Congress, especially, 『Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work』 will be announced after the Safety and Health Summit for the first time in history. Ministers responsible for occupational safety and health, industry leaders, high-level representatives from employers` and workers` organizations, as well as leading occupational safety and health specialists from around world will participate in the discussion to exchange each other’s opinions on safety and health at work as a basic human right and a means to economic growth and development. The Regional Meetings for the discussion of the pending issues related to the safety and health of the five continents including the Americas, Asia-pacific, Europe, Africa, and Arab states and the Symposia for the exchange of mutual experiences and opinions regarding the prevention of the industrial accidents and occupational diseases will also be held during the World Congress. KOSHA has made every effort to prepare brand-new programmes for the World Congress perfectly.

-The International Film and Multimedia Festival (IFMF), which will be held concurrently with the World Congress, will provide the participants with the opportunity to enjoy the worldwide films and multimedia products regarding safety and health and to release their own products. You can present your products for the festival now. You can also find out the ways to solve the problems related to safety and health in your workplaces if you visit the International Safety and Health Exhibition showing the global cutting-edge safety and health related machinery and tools, equipment, and technology, which will also be held at the same time during the period of the congress. 

-KOSHA has ever hosted the International Organization Committee (IOC) twice, the National Organization Committee (NOC) three times, and the preparation and support committee 12 times, discussing and fixing the schedule and the operational way of the World Congress’s programmes including the Safety and Health Summit, the Plenary Session, the Technical Session, the Regional Meetings, and the Symposium and of the Opening Ceremony, the Closing Ceremony, the Welcome Reception, and the National Evening for the World Congress. Therefore, the overall timetable for the World Congress has potentially been fixed.

-Joint organizers including the ILO, the ISSA, and KOSHA will issue and distribute the 2^nd announcement for the World Congress written in five official languages (English, French, Spanish, German, and Korean), Chinese, and Japanese in September this year. Furthermore, we will make it possible for participants to register, make a reservation for their accommodation, and send Call for Papers through the Internet starting from September this year by reforming the current official website by the end of August.  

-KOSHA, which decided to host the World Congress in order to make safety and health the nation’s top priorities in deciding any policy, to establish the position of the northeastern Asia as the hub of the occupational safety and health and to pave the way for building a good relationship between the labor and management by improving level of the global occupational safety and health, will try its best to host XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work successfully with the strategies to prepare excellent programmes, operate the congress to offer the best services, organize the event with the Korean traits mixed, and build the safety-oriented operation system.     

-We need active contribution and participation of safety and health related people across the world to revitalize the World Congress. I would appreciate it if you positively participate in this international event.  

Timetable for the XVIII World Congress