Dr. John Howard, Chair of of the WHO Global Network of Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health.

We are a strong Network of 58 CCs plus 9 in the process of designation, the International Commission of Occupational Health (ICOH), the International Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA), the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and with the International Labor Organization (ILO). The adoption of the 2006-2010 Workplan of the Network at the June 2006 Stresa Meeting brought us the opportunity to work together as partners on 203 projects. We are grateful to the AA managers, who are coordinating the project activities. Please feel encouraged to communicate with the AA managers and with each other directly. Also, please send your stories to our editor, Jane Hingston of NIOSH, at JHingston@cdc.gov.

John Howard, MD

Timo Leino, AA5 Manager, works to expand occupational health services.

In his work as AA 5 Manager, Timo sees the goal of “expanding and delivering occupational health services in all six regions of the WHO; the developing and developed countries.” Timo anticipates a lot of work ahead and hopes to see the WHO Network double its access to occupational health services. Timo would like to see “more resources given to the area of occupational health services as an integral part of public health and development. It is important to network and create bridges across cultural barriers. This is work for freedom and work for peace.” Timo has a wife of 30 years and three grown children. Growing up, Timo played Finnish baseball and now enjoys running and playing badminton.

The 2006-2010 Workplan of the WHO Global Network of Collaborating Centres

http://www.who.int/occupational_health/network/2006compendium/en/index.html.
It includes three documents that allow you to identify your projects and those of possible interest to you by using the “search” function. You will find detailed descriptions of all of the projects in the Compendium. The Summary lists the project titles and lead Collaborating Centre (CC), and the Overview of Activities lists the CCs by country and shows the projects of the CC in each of the six Activity Areas (AAs). The AAs and managers are:

AA 1. Global situation analysis – describe, analyze and act on how globalization and changing employment patterns influence the prerequisites for occupational safety and health. (Wendy Macdonald, W.Macdonald@latrobe.edu.au)

AA 2. Evidence for action– enhance global understanding of occupational health by sharing information about activities that support national, regional and global policies and influence the decision makers and stakeholders. (Jo Harris-Roberts, Jo.Harris-Roberts@hsl.gov.uk)

AA 3. Practical approaches to identify and reduce occupational risks – develop and implement simplified risk reduction tools and methods. Projects will address chemicals, safety and psychological hazards, silica and ergonomics with focus on the construction, healthcare and agriculture sectors. (Stravroula Leka, stavroula.leka@nottingham.ac.uk)  

AA 4. Education, training and technical materials – develop human resources, curricula and toolkits on occupational health issues. Support implementation and evaluation of the materials. (Leslie Nickels, lnickels@uic.edu)

AA 5. Development and expansion of occupational health services – develop and expand occupational health services as part of public health services. Strengthen infrastructure and develop best practices to double the number of workers who have access to occupational health services by the end of 2015. (Timo Leino, timo.leino@ttl.fi)

AA 6. Communication and networking – establish a communication network to serve as a resource of knowledge and skills in occupational health. Market the scientific information products of the Collaborating Centres and Activity Areas. Assist in fund-raising efforts of the Activity Areas. (Claudina Nogueria, claudina.nogueira@nioh.nhls.ac.za)

	The Health and Safety Laboratory’s purpose built facility in Buxton.

In September 2005, The University of Sheffield, The Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Health and Safety Laboratory signed a memorandum of understanding to cement the long-standing close partnership between these three organisations, and in doing so, launched the Centre for Workplace Health (CWH).

Operating out of the new laboratory facility in Buxton, United Kingdom, within the Peak District National Park, CWH has put itself on the map as a national centre of excellence in the field of occupational health and safety research, training and service provision. It is the expertise, experience and facilities available between the three partners and its associates that puts CWH in a unique position to provide customers and stakeholders with simple, practical solutions to workplace health problems based on high quality science.

Jo Harris-Roberts heads the Centre for Workplace Health team at HSL and is AA2 Manager.

Through visits to CWH by a number of key government ministers and the newly appointed Director of Health, Work and Well-Being, the Centre has secured widespread backing and support and is currently involved in large programmes of work focusing on a broad range of occupational health issues, such as respiratory disease and ageing populations.

Dr. Jo Harris-Roberts, Activity Area 2 Manager, manages the core team in Buxton that is comprised of senior specialist medics, nurses, technicians and researchers. “It’s fantastic to have such an excellent team on board that is able to respond to the rapidly changing demands of occupational health in the 21st Century. The Centre represents a new approach to Occupational Health (OH) research and delivery which we hope will benefit employers and employees on a number of levels, as well as providing a vital resource for advice and consultancy to other organisations and health professionals involved in OH.”

More information about CWH and HSL can be found at
http://www.hsl.gov.uk/cwh.

	Hazardous disposal of used needlesticks.

A meeting with state and national government officials to draft a state plan for protecting healthcare workers against occupational transmission of bloodborne pathogens was held in Venezuela in February 2007. The Aragua State experience was used to model a national plan. A train-the-trainer workshop trained sixty health care workers from four pilot hospitals and CORPOSALUD.

Geolibrary.org is an electronic library of occupational and environmental health training materials and practice tools. The materials are in the public domain and are available free of charge in six languages. While many of the materials found in the library currently exist in the public domain at various web site locations, the GeoLibrary is a growing collection of these materials in a single location that can be accessed globally. Key features of the library are a comprehensive index of environmental and occupational health topics and advance search features to assist in finding the most relevant materials. Visit www.geolibrary.org today! To learn how to include materials from your Collaborating Centre, contact lnickels@uic.edu.

	Prevention and Control of Occupational Exposure to Dust” workshop in São Paulo, Brazil, December 2006.

A workshop on the “Prevention and Control of Occupational Exposure to Dust” took place in São Paulo, Brazil, on 5 – 6 December 2006. The event launched joint efforts by institutions involved in protecting the health of workers, particularly in Portuguese-speaking countries. The workshop was organized and co-hosted by WHO Collaborating Centres FUNDACENTRO and SENAC. Thank you to Rosangela Ribeiro (SENAC) and Eduardo Algranti (FUNDACENTRO) for their hospitality.

The 25 delegates were from Brazilian organizations, the Centre for Environmental and Occupational Health of the National Institute of Health in Oporto, Portugal, and the National Institute for Occupational Health in Johannesburg, South Africa. Decisions reached at the workshop include:

• Development of a Teaching Guide to be used in conjunction with the WHO document on “Prevention and Control of Exposure to Dust,” which is in the process of being updated and translated into Portuguese and will include case studies.
  
  
• Preparation of interactive CDs for teaching in Portuguese based on the initial CDs developed by Sweden.
  
  
• Development of training modules for courses at various levels for OH professionals.
  
  
• Utilization of the GeoLibrary for dissemination of materials in Portuguese.
  
  
• Organization of national (Brazil) teleconferences in relevant occupational health topics (including the development of distance learning).

Preparations are currently underway for an international seminar on the “Prevention of Occupational Diseases” to be held in Oporto, Portugal in October 2007. This will be a WHO seminar, organized locally and conducted in Portuguese. The target audience is OH professionals in Portuguese-speaking countries, including Africa. A number of short courses are planned as post-seminar training activities.

Laboratory visit with Fundacentro staff members, L to R: Drs. Ana Maria Bom, Eduardo Algranti and Walter Pedreira Jr.

[M Fingerhut, D Imel Nelson, T Driscoll, M Concha-Barrientos, K Steenland, L Punnett, A Prüss-Üstün, J Leigh, C Corvalan, G Eijkemans, J Takala. “The Contribution of Occupational Risks to the Global Burden of Disease: Summary and Next Steps.” La Medicina del Lavoro. 97(2):313-323 (2006)]

Activity Area manager (time commitment of 25%, agreed by CC Director, between June 2006 and 2010)
1. The AA manager forms part of the WHO Global CC Network Planning Committee*

• Contributes to the planning for 2006-2010 and future coordinated work of the Network.
  
  
• Identifies and strengthens linkages between the CC Workplan and the WHO Global Plan of Action.
  
  
• Is consulted on issues related to the CC Network.

2. The AA manager is involved in the day-to-day planning and management of the AA.

• Promotes collaboration between the different partners involved in the projects, between the projects and between the different AAs.
  
  
• Does NOT involve fundraising. However, the AA managers can play a role in identifying funding opportunities and link with AA 6 and the CC co-coordinators to explore options.
  
  
• Keeps regular contact with Project Leaders and CC co-coordinators.
  
  
• Motivates CCs to implement projects.
  
  
• Monitors progress made on projects and reports to CC co-coordinators every six months.
  
  
• Evaluates success and impact of the completed projects (June each year).
  
  
• Keeps the AA plan updated (updates every 6 months).
  
  
• Encourages communication of successes and input to the CC e-newsletter.

Deputy manager (10%-25% time commitment, 2006-10)
(In close coordination with AA manager for an agreed sub-set of projects in the AA)

• Day-to-day planning and management of the AA. This includes the promotion of collaboration between the different partners involved in the projects and between the projects.
  
  
• Motivates CCs to implement projects in their area of responsibility.
  
  
• Monitors progress made on projects on a quarterly basis and reports to AA manager.
  
  
• Evaluates the success and impact of projects.

*The members of the CC Planning Committee are the members of the Advisory Board, WHO HQ and Regional Advisers, ILO, NGOs in official relation (ICOH, IOHA and IEA) and the AA managers.

For a list of upcoming conferences, visit http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/exhibits.html.

• Success stories related to a particular project
  
  
• Short reports on recent conferences / meetings attended which have direct relevance to Workplan projects
  
  
• Focus on a particular designated WHO CC
  
  
• Focus on a candidate WHO CC
  
  
• Focus on a particular emerging occupational health institute, especially in developing countries
  
  
• Submission of a completed project product – for showcasing and publicizing availability, for others to use – i.e. new materials coming out of the project work, like toolkits and training materials
  
  
• Opportunities for funding of projects
  
  
• A website of relevance to the broad aims of the AAs and the greater Workplan
  
  
• Photographic contributions