Experts and professionals specialising in working conditions and occupational safety and health will gather in Inchon, Republic of Korea next week, to discuss ways of improving grassroots work and employment conditions in Asia.

The meeting is being organized by the ILO’s International Training Centre in Turin, Italy, in partnership with the Korean Labour Education Institute. It is the first international workshop to place maximising participation at the heart of strategies to improve conditions in ordinary workplaces.

Nine Asian countries are scheduled to attend the five-day meeting at the Korean Labour Education Institute, from 1st to 5th November 2004. In addition to the Republic of Korea, the others include Cambodia, Japan, Laos PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The meeting will focus on ways of improving working and employment conditions that encourage the widest range of participation, so improving the situation of thousands of workers at grassroots level.

The workshop will be led by William Salter, Senior Adviser, Conditions of Work and Employment Programme, ILO Geneva and Dr. Tsuyoshi Kawakami, the ILO’s specialist in Occupational Safety and Health for East Asia.

“The ILO’s occupational safety and health training is specifically designed to maximise participation, because our experience shows that the more people are directly involved the more effectively the message gets across that safety and health is everyone’s concern;” said Dr Kawakami. “The training covers a wide range of workplace issues including sexual harassment, maternity protection and working hours. It will also focus on the needs of specific groups, such as home workers, farmers, small businesses and construction site issues”.

About 35 people are expected to attend the workshop, entitled “Participatory Methods to Improve Working and Employment Conditions”. They include academics and trade union representatives as well as representatives of employers and governments.

For more information please contact:
Sophy Fisher
ILO Regional Information Officer
Tel: + 02 288 2482
Email

Tsuyoshi Kawakami
ILO OSH Specialist
Email