In the framework of the Hellenic presidency of the European Union, ELINYAE (the Hellenic Institute for Occupational Health and Safety), supported by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, organized in Athens the eighth international symposium of the ISSA International Section for Research on Prevention of Occupational Risks.

The ISSA International Section on Prevention of Occupational Risks in Health Services took part in this symposium by oral and poster contributions.

Tools have been developed to help prevention specialists in their work. The purpose was to report on the latest developments in risk monitoring, in particular as regards chemical risks, to get a better understanding of the problems in order to guide future research efforts if the available tools turn out to be inadequate, and present the solutions that have proven effective.

More than 40 oral contributions and 120 posters illustrated the three main topics of the symposium:

• Legal bases and practical considerations in the prevention approach, especially in SMEs
• Chemical risk prevention tools
• Outlook and new challenges for prevention

Companies have to comply with national regulations stemming from European Directives on the prevention of occupational risks, including those resulting from exposure to hazardous chemicals. Hereby they find it difficult to identify risks and assess exposure. The symposium provided a forum for a review of the problems encountered at the workplace.

The changes currently underway in the world of work are also giving rise to risks that are harder to monitor, and that are placed in a new organisational, social and technological context. These risks, whether physical or psychological in nature, call for methods, approaches and instruments for use by prevention specialists that can adapt to recent developments. They were reviewed at the end of the symposium, when considering the future outlook.

Downloads

Opening address [ A Diamantopoulo.pdf 15.93 kB ]
Anna Diamantopoulo, European Commissioner responsible for Employment and Social Affairs

Orders

Proceedings of the symposium are available upon request to the Secretariat of the ISSA International Section for Research on Prevention of Occupational Risks.