Collaborating Centre Connection (September 2012)

Collaborating Centre Connection (September 2012)

Collaborating Centre Connection (September 2012)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent this bulletin at 09/28/2012 10:45 AM EDT

Collaborating Centre Connection

September 2012 Introducing the Team Leader of the WHO Global Occupational Health Programme: Dr. Ivan Dimov Ivanov Dr. Ivan Dimov Ivanov was appointed in September 2011 as Team Leader of the WHO Global Occupational Health Programme in Geneva. The team leader has the overall responsibility for the implementation of the WHO Global Plan of Action on Workers’ Health, and for collaboration with other internal technical programmes and outside partners. In addition, Ivan currently carries out several technical projects; his project portfolio includes scaling up coverage with occupational health services, workers’ health in a green economy and climate change policies, as well as occupational diseases.... Read More... Spotlight: New WHO Collaborating Centre in Sri Lanka Focuses on Training Primary Care Providers Within the country of Sri Lanka, an island in South Asia, lying off the southern tip of India in the Indian Ocean, the Department of Community Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, has been running a WHO supported programme for training primary care providers since the 1980s. We now have the honour and privilege of being designated a Word Health Organization Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) for Occupational Health as of 30th July 2012. Training of primary health care (PHC) workers in Occupational Health and Safety (OCHS) was started by this Department in 1980 with support of WHO SEARO. The objective of training PHC workers was to provide basic occupational health services and a safe work environment to the population. This approach also enables the trained PHC workers to access workers in the informal sector, backyard and small scale enterprises. The Department has a field practice area, a primary health care unit of the Ministry of Health providing direct access to implement essential occupational health interventions in workplaces, which can be considered as an added advantage. Since 1980, training in OCHS is carried out every year, with WHO funds received under the biennial allocation.... Read More... Spotlight: First International Technical Seminar in Latin America to Protect Workers Using Personal Protective Equipment The Chilean Institute of Public Health (ISP) in cooperation with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) organized the First International Technical Seminar in Latin America to focus on elements of personal protective equipment (PPE). On the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of May 2012, members of NIOSH’s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) and the Global Collaboration Program came together with their counterparts from ISP in Santiago, Chile to conduct educational workshops on PPE. One of the challenges of ISP has been to become a national point of reference in respect to the quality on elements of PPE. For this reason, it was decided to hold this event to share knowledge and experiences among the participating countries on the correct use of PPE based on the type of hazard in the workplace.... Read More... NIOSH Total Worker Health™ - A New Publication Provides Support for Health Protection and Promotion of the WHO Global Healthy Workplace Programme The protection, preservation, and improvement of the health and well-being of all people who work are goals shared by workers, their families, and employers. Today, more than ever, there is increasing evidence that the work environment and the overall health, safety and well-being of the workers within it are strongly connected. Diminished health and increased injury, whether caused by work or resulting from non-work activities, reduces quality of life, opportunity, and income for workers and those dependent upon them. In June 2011, NIOSH announced the development of Total Worker Health™, a new program that evolved from the earlier NIOSH Steps to a Healthier U.S. Workforce and NIOSH WorkLife Initiatives. Total Worker Health™ is a strategy integrating occupational safety and health protection with health promotion to prevent worker injury and illness and to advance worker health and well-being. NIOSH believes that integrating the protection of worker health and safety with evidence-based health promotion will be a key strategy for building a strong economy on the foundation of safe jobs and healthy workers.... Read More..