Objectives

The Section on Prevention in the Chemical Industry aims to promote prevention in the chemical and chemical-related industries, including:

• the chemical industry
• the pharmaceutical industry
• the plastics industry
• the paint and inks industry
• the petroleum industry
• the rubber industry
• the biotechnology industry.

Based on the standing orders, the Section is committed to increasing safety and health protection worldwide by first and foremost improving the international exchange of information, particularly through international symposia, working groups and the dissemination of specialist brochures.

Structure

In accordance with its Standing Orders, the Section on Prevention in the Chemical Industry is organized as follows:

Members' Meeting: A members’ meeting is held at least every three years, generally in conjunction with an international symposium of the Chemistry Section. The meeting discusses and rules on questions relating to work programmes, objectives and standing orders, and elects the President and the two Vice Presidents of the Chemistry Section at least every six years. Further information on the type of members and the list of members is available under Membership. 

Bureau: The President and two Vice Presidents are elected from the ordinary members – or the existing appointments are confirmed – at a members’ meeting at least every six years. The following are automatically appointed to the Bureau: Ex officio the Secretary General of the ISSA, Geneva, who can appoint a representative, and the Secretary General of the Chemistry Section who is appointed by the newly-elected Bureau and must come from the organization which provides the Secretariat of the Chemistry Section, i.e. the Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and the Chemical Industry (Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie – BG RCI), Heidelberg, Germany. The Bureau meets approximately two to four times every year and, on the basis of the decisions taken by the members’ meeting, makes decisions on the programme, sets up working groups, appoints members to the working groups and decides on the inclusion of new members.

Members of the Bureau of the Section on Prevention in the Chemical Industry

President

Thomas Köhler
Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and the Chemical Industry (Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie – BG RCI)
Germany

Vice-Presidents

Martin Gschwind
Head of the division Health protection
Suva
Switzerland

Michel Pourquet
Directeur du Centre de Lorraine
INRS (Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité), France

Secretary General

Harald Wellhäußer
Deputy Head of Prevention
Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Raw Materials and the Chemical Industry (Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie – BG RCI)
Germany

Secretariat of the Section on Prevention in the Chemical Industry

The Secretariat is run by the BG RCI in Heidelberg, Germany, and is represented by the Secretary General of the Section on Prevention in the Chemical Industry.

Working groups

The Bureau can constitute working groups with different tasks as either permanent or ad-hoc working groups. There are currently two permanent working groups:

"Dangerous Substances" working group

This working group has the following goals in the field of dangerous substances:

• discussing occupational safety regulations in the member states of the ISSA
• describing their implementation in practice
• collating the results
• publishing the results in an appropriate form.

List of members

"Explosion Protection" working group

The "Explosion Protection" working group is responsible for a number of very successful multilingual brochures on the following subjects:

• gas explosions
• dust explosions
• safety of liquefied gas installations
• static electricity.

One of the key focal points of this work is an exchange of experiences and information. Selected explosion events and reports on appropriate measures are keenly discussed.

List of members

For further information, please contact the Secretariat of the Section.