Embracing Challenges, Pushing WSH Frontiers
The inaugural conference will be held on 15 to 16 September 2010 at Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The theme for the two-day conference, "Embracing Challenges, Pushing WSH Frontiers", is aimed at creating awareness for the legal, moral and economic reasons behind WSH legislation, changing opinions of WSH practices, and creating a framework for the sustained promotion of WSH thought.
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body or the process of making it. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to as "legislation", while it remains under consideration to distinguish it from other business. Legislation can have many purposes: to regulate, to authorize, to outlaw, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict. It may be contrasted with a non-legislative act which is adopted by an executive or administrative body under the authority of a legislative act or for implementing a legislative act.
Speakers at the 2010 conference include local and international WSH thought leaders and Captains of Industry, including Professor Harri Vainio from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Mr. John Spanswick from the United Kingdom’s Health and Safety Executive Board and Mr. Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corporation.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom with its headquarters in Bootle, England. In Northern Ireland, these duties lie with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland. The HSE was created by the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and has since absorbed earlier regulatory bodies such as the Factory Inspectorate and the Railway Inspectorate though the Railway Inspectorate was transferred to the Office of Rail and Road in April 2006. The HSE is sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. As part of its work, HSE investigates industrial accidents, small and large, including major incidents such as the explosion and fire at Buncefield in 2005. Though it formerly reported to the Health and Safety Commission, on 1 April 2008, the two bodies merged.
Keppel Corporation is a Singaporean conglomerate headquartered in Keppel Bay Tower, HarbourFront. The company consists of several affiliated businesses that specialises in offshore & marine, property, infrastructure and asset management businesses.
A work accident, workplace accident, occupational accident, or accident at work is a "discrete occurrence in the course of work" leading to physical or mental occupational injury. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 337 million accidents happen on the job each year, resulting, together with occupational diseases, in more than 2.3 million deaths annually.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is a decentralised agency of the European Union with the task of collecting, analysing and disseminating relevant information that can serve the needs of people involved in safety and health at work. Set up in 1994 by Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 of 18 July 1994, EU-OSHA is based in Bilbao, Spain, where it has a staff of occupational safety and health, communication and administrative specialists. Dr Christa Sedlatschek is the current Director of EU-OSHA, following on from Dr Jukka Takala in September 2011.
The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States of America. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressional charter in 1953. Members include more than 55,000 businesses, labor organizations, schools, public agencies, private groups and individuals.
Health promotion is as stated in the 1986 WHO Ottawa Charter on Health Promotion "the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to identify and to realize aspirations, to satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is, therefore, seen as a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Therefore, health promotion is not just the responsibility of the health sector, but goes beyond healthy life-styles to well-being".
The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) is an independent, multi-disciplinary charity dedicated to the improvement of the public’s health
Workplace wellness is any workplace health promotion activity or organizational policy designed to support healthy behavior in the workplace and to improve health outcomes. Known as 'corporate wellbeing' outside the US, workplace wellness often comprises activities such as health education, medical screenings, weight management programs, on-site fitness programs or facilities. Workplace wellness programs can be categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary prevention efforts, or an employer can implement programs that have elements of multiple types of prevention. Primary prevention programs usually target a fairly healthy employee population, and encourage them to more frequently engage in health behaviors that will encourage ongoing good health. Example of primary prevention programs include stress management, and exercise and healthy eating promotion. Secondary prevention programs are targeted at reducing behavior that is considered a risk factor for poor health. Examples of such programs include smoking cessation programs and screenings for high blood pressure or other cardiovascular disease related risk factors. Tertiary health programs address existing health problems, and aim to help control or reduce symptoms, or to help slow the progression of a disease or condition. Such programs might encourage employees to better adhere to specific medication or self-managed care guidelines.
Environment, health and safety (EHS) is a discipline and specialty that studies and implements practical aspects of environmental protection and safety at work. In simple terms it is what organizations must do to make sure that their activities do not cause harm to anyone.
The Health Promotion Board is a statutory board under the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Singapore. It was established in 2001 to act as the main driver for national health promotion and disease prevention programmes, "with a vision to build a nation of healthy people".
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is an independent departmental corporation under Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act and is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of Labour.
The Ministry of National Development (Abbreviation: MND; Chinese: 国家发展部 Malay: Kementerian Pembangunan Negara; is a ministry of the Government of Singapore that directs the formulation and implementation of policies related to land-use planning and infrastructure development.
The Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 is an act issued by the Republic of Singapore. It addresses requirements for safety and health in workplaces, and replaced the Factories Act as of 1 March 2006.
The Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council was formed on 1 April 2008. It is an industry-led Statutory Body that is based in Singapore. It is a step-up from its precursor, the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee (WSHAC) formed in September 2005. The WSHC is endowed with statutory powers.
An occupational fatality is a death that occurs while a person is at work or performing work related tasks. Occupational fatalities are also commonly called “occupational deaths” or “work-related deaths/fatalities” and can occur in any industry or occupation.
The Victorian Health Promotion Foundation is a statutory authority in the Australian state of Victoria, originally funded by hypothecated taxation raised by the Victorian Tobacco Act 1987. It was the first health promotion body in the world to be funded by a tax on tobacco.
analytica is a trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology that has been held at Messe München every two years since 1968. Its main exhibition sectors are the fields of analysis and quality control, biotechnology/life sciences/diagnostics and laboratory technology. The visitors who attend the fair are decision-makers and users from the chemicals, pharma, food and automobile industries, medicine as well as industrial and government research. Among other things, the fair's interdisciplinary exhibition themes include:
Occupational health nursing is a specialty nursing practice that provides for and delivers health and safety programs and services to workers, worker populations, and community groups. The practice focuses on promotion, maintenance and restoration of health, prevention of illness and injury, and protection from work‐related and environmental hazards. Occupational health nurses (OHNs) aim to combine knowledge of health and business to balance safe and healthful work environments and a "healthy" bottom line.
Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or workplace health and safety (WHS), is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. These terms also refer to the goals of this field, so their use in the sense of this article was originally an abbreviation of occupational safety and health program/department etc.
Total Worker Health is a trademarked strategy defined as policies, programs, and practices that integrate protection from work-related safety and health hazards with promotion of injury and illness prevention efforts to advance worker well-being. It was conceived and is funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Total Worker Health is tested and developed in six Centers of Excellence for Total Worker Health in the United States.
SA8000 is an auditable certification standard that encourages organizations to develop, maintain, and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace.
It was developed in 1989 by Social Accountability International, formerly the Council on Economic Priorities, by an advisory board consisting of trade unions, NGOs, civil society organizations and companies. The SA8000's criteria were developed from various industry and corporate codes to create a common standard for social welfare compliance.
The Singapore Ministry of Manpower is the responsible authority for occupational safety and health in Singapore. The Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 addresses requirements for safety and health in workplaces in Singapore and replaced the Factories Act as of 1 March 2006. The Workplace Safety and Health Council is an industry-led Statutory Body that was formed on 1 April 2008.
