Agreement on a European research partnership for safe and healthy work

OSH institutes seek to co-ordinate research activity

12-Dec-2008

On 7 November 2008, the BGIA Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance and a further 12 European research institutes met in Dublin to found a research association. To achieve this, the heads of the institutes involved amended the charter of the existing Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safety and Health (PEROSH). The objective is that of networking the research institutes even more tightly together and of co-ordinating their research activities. Besides conducting joint research projects, PEROSH intends to be represented in Brussels in European issues by a co-ordinator of its own as of 2009.

The PEROSH partnership has been in existence since 2003. "Originally, our primary aim was that of lobbying jointly at European level for the concerns of OSH research, and in particular of placing the subject of safe and healthy work on the agenda of the European Commission's research programme," says Professor Dietmar Reinert, Deputy Head of the BGIA and a member of the PEROSH management team. With the latest development, the lobby has now become a genuine research association which plans to work on eight topical OSH issues over the coming years. Says Reinert: "Neighbouring countries are in many cases facing the same OSH issues; we can therefore benefit from learning from one another and from exploiting research resources jointly and therefore more effectively." The requirements imposed upon the occupational safety and health of older workers, possible hazards posed by nanotechnology, and the influence of a culture of safety upon the frequency and severity of workplace accidents are among the issues to be examined by the association.

Since in its new form, the partnership requires substantially more co-ordination, PEROSH is looking for a co-ordinator of its own, to be located in Brussels from 2009 onwards.

OSH research is an effective instrument by which occupational accidents, occupational diseases and workplace health hazards can be prevented. In Germany, the institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention and the public-sector accident insurers have the statutory mandate of conducting research into the causes of work-related hazards to life and health. For this purpose, they maintain institutes of their own, and finance research activities conducted by third parties. In addition, they co-ordinate their activities with partner institutes in Europe and elsewhere, in order to exploit existing knowledge and to avoid the duplication of effort.

Further information

On the PEROSH network: http://www.perosh.eu

On the vacancy for a co-ordinator: http://www.dguv.de/inhalt/bildung.jsp