Cutting the number of deaths and accidents in hazardous sectors such as the mining, construction and chemical industries will be the focus of the 2nd International Forum on Work Safety, to be held at the Beijing from 1-4 September.

At least 15 countries are expected to attend the forum, including experts from Australia , Germany , Japan , Poland , Russia , the UK and the USA , as well as China .

China is currently working on a national occupational safety and health programme, and the meeting will allow for the exchange of high-level governmental experience on implementing such programmes, and show how international standards (such as the ILO’s Convention 155 on Occupational Safety and Health (1981) - which China is considering ratifying -and the ILO Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems) – can be applied.

The China International Occupational Safety & Health Exhibition will be held at the same time at the World Trade Centre. The forum is being held at the Kulun Hotel.

The meeting, which has taken the theme of safety, health and development, will be opened by Mr. Hua Jianmin, Secretary-General of the State Council and Ms. Christine Evans-Klock, Director of the ILO Subregional Office for East Asia .

In a message to conference delegates the Director-General of ILO, Mr. Juan Somavia described the International Forum as “timely”. “It is an opportunity to make concrete proposals for the implementation of the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health….The Forum will also be most valuable in supporting China ’s efforts to strengthen its own national OSH systems”.

“When work is unsafe it is, first and foremost, the cause of great human suffering and human tragedy….For enterprises and economies it also means diminished productivity and competitiveness. And unsafe work undermines efforts to reduce poverty, create jobs and promote sustainable development,” Mr. Somavia added.

The Forum is being sponsored by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and organized by the China National Centre for International Exchange & Cooperation on Work Safety (NCICS). This meeting is a follow-up to the 1st International Forum which was held in Beijing in 2002.

For more information please contact:
Ms Zhou Weiqi
State Administration of Work Safety
Tel: + 86 10 64229939
Email

Tsuyoshi Kawakami
ILO Occupational Safety and Health Specialist
Email

Krisdaporn Singhaseni
ILO Information Officer, ILO Bangkok
Tel: + 662 288 1664
Email