In addition, several personnel changes in the network were announced: Vinka Longin Peš of the Croatian health insurance fund is stepping down as chair of the steering committee after five years, and Ulrike Bollmann is handing over the baton to the new ENETOSH coordinator Steffi Niederhuber after 20 years. For the time being the network will continue to be managed by the Institute for Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV).
The DGUV is currently reviewing the structure of ENETOSH and discussing the successor to the chair of the steering committee.
The former coordinator, together with the web editor Claus Dethleff, 3c Creative Communication Concepts GmbH, provides a retrospective of the year 2024. This retrospective is based on the indicators from the ENETOSH 2021-2025 strategic framework: https://www.enetosh.net/strategic-framework.html. After that, Vinka Longin Peš gave a presentation on the conference of the European Forum 2024 in Zagreb, in which she calls for a strategic approach, for example with forward-looking guidelines to improve the protection of workers and students in a dynamic and digital environment.
The new coordinator, Steffi Niederhuber, presents a questionnaire for a future member survey. The results of the survey will be used for the new strategic framework for ENETOSH. The results should also contribute to the conclusion of the current development of the terms of reference (ToR) for ENETOSH.
Representing project manager Lucie Kocurkova from the VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic, who is attending the meeting from a moving train, Cleo Varianou Mikellidou from the European University of Cyprus presents the new Erasmus+ project “Collaborative Online International Learning in Occupational Safety and Health (COLOSH)”, in which several ENETOSH members are involved as partners and which ENETOSH supports as an associate member. The shared mission of these partners is to improve digital learning capacities in OSH training while promoting global collaboration. Cleo announces the first international COLOSH conference for June 2025.
Peter Paulus, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany, provides a detailed insight into the further development of the Good Healthy School Initiative (GHSI), which pursues the implementation of a core concept of ENETOSH: the promotion of education through health as a contribution to grassroots work in schools. Peter points to a round table on April 9 with 15 decision-makers from Europe, Asia, Africa and North-America, as well as representatives of WHO and UNESCO, who will discuss how healthy learning and teaching can become a reality.
Ehi Iden, OSHAfrica and Ulrike Bollmann present the first results of the project “Integration of SDG 8 in African Universities”. The aim of the project is to learn from the curricular and institutional implementation of UN SDG 8 at African universities and to initiate the development of courses that promote decent work and sustainable economic development in Africa. Paul Swuste, Senior Advisor to the Steering Committee, criticizes the study's focus on occupational health. Ehi Iden points out the close correlation between occupational safety and health and occupational medicine in Africa.
The meeting concludes with the announcement of other important events:
- The EU-OSHA Good Practice Exchange on Healthy Workplaces from 20 to 21 May in Brussels, Belgium
- The Days for Safety, Health and Well-being at EXPO 2025 from 16 to 19 July in Osaka, Japan
- The 7th International Conference on Safety and Health at Work in Saudi Arabia, May 4-6, 2025, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
All participants are asked to actively support the call for videos #YouthForResilience. This video competition is taking place in the run-up to the ENETOSH event “Global Crises, Youth and Education: Innovative Approaches to Risk, Resilience and Resonance” on July 19, during the Safety, Health and Wellbeing Days at EXPO 2025 in Osaka: https://gishw.com/symposium-programme/
The call was largely prepared by Selçuk Yaşar and Hülya Ünver, the deputy chair of the steering committee. Both work at the General Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health of the Ministry for Labour and Social Security in Turkey: https://www.enetosh.net/call-for-videos.html
We look forward to your participation in the competition and to welcoming you to Osaka.
Please click to see the presentations:
01_Bollmann_Dethleff_ENETOSH report
02_Pes_European Forum Conference 2024 - Summary
04_Kocurkova_Mikellidou_ENETOSH_SCmeet_COLOSH
06_Iden_Bollmann_SDG_8_19_ENETOSH SC
