November 10, 2008—Nine pan-European and multinational organizations have signed up to be part of the first wave of official partners of the Healthy Workplaces campaign. Organized by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the campaign focuses on the evaluation of health and safety risks and aims at reducing work-related accidents and illnesses. EU-OSHA asserts that improvements in this area are urgently needed, citing the estimate that every three-and-a-half minutes somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes.
Among the participating organizations are European employers’ and workers’ federations, multinational companies from various industry sectors, research platforms, and NGOs. By signing up as official partners, these organizations get substantially involved in the campaign and promote risk assessment as the first essential step for good workplace safety and health management.
In practical terms, the official partners promote the Healthy Workplaces campaign through their information channels, disseminate campaign material to their networks, and organize their own activities such as conferences, workshops, training sessions, media events, and poster competitions. In return, EU-OSHA rewards them with extensive promotion via its website and newsletter to more than 38,000 subscribers. In addition, every participant receives a Partner Certificate and is acknowledged when the Agency presents and promotes the campaign to stakeholders at EU level and to the media.
