The Employers' Activities Program (ACT\EMP) of the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ITCILO) launched the new online Training Package on Essentials in Occupational Safety and Health (EOSH).

The package comprises of 29 modules covering a selection of themes and topics that promote a general culture of health and safety at work, as well as specific risks and issues, including:

• Management of prevention, 
• Risks assessment 
• Accidents Prevention and Reporting
• Motivating Workers: Leadership & supervision
• Safe and healthy workplaces for Young Workers
• Managing health crises and COVID-19

Social dialogue is one of the principles in the training to promote health and safety in the workplace. For example, the “health and safety Committees” module explores the benefits of setting up a joint health and safety committee, where workers and management establish a communication channel for health and safety issues. It involves putting in place an internal responsibility system to enhance their cooperation in solving health and safety challenges.

The EOSH package is an engaging and interactive platform that enables employers and business members’ organizations (EBMOs) to deliver a new service for their members by setting up an innovative training to be entirely delivered online and taking advantage of the ITCILO e-campus infrastructure. The training is flexible and it can also be used by other organisations, including the ILO in its projects, UN Agencies, Ministries of labor and private companies, as they can easily implement and transmit their OSH projects and strategies to their beneficiaries and stakeholders. 

During 8 -19 June 2020, ACT/EMP Turin hosted an open house initiative, inviting guests to access freely the platform to explore and experience the new material, and organised four webinars to present the new features of the EOSH package. 

Around 400 participants from 71 countries representing EBMOs leaders and their staff, trainers, ministries of labor, ILO departments and projects across different regions and companies’ leaders, took part in the launch of the EOSH new training package.

Responsible for the EOSH training package, Sandro Pettineo, Programme Officer of ACT/EMP commented that: “the high number of participants from all over the world demonstrated the growing interest of organisations to promote a healthy and safe workplace, especially in this time of pandemic. 

The COVID-19 has changed the way we live, learn, and work, but it hasn’t slowed us down. In the EOSH package, there is key information on OSH that is relevant and easy to understand. It also features a newly designed module on managing health crises and COVID-19. The module offers concrete guidance to employers and companies to help them safeguard the workplace during health crises and take action to make a safe transition back to work.

We look forward to engaging with EBMOs interested in setting up an innovative training service that can be delivered to their members with an ITCILO certificate.”