At a reception on 17 March in Brussels, EU-Commissioner Vladimír Špidla and EU-OSHA Director Jukka Takala present the FOHNEU President with the Partners Certificate now that FOHNEU is an official campaign partner to the risk assessment campaign.
FOHNEU is a non profit making organisation which represents Occupational Health Nurses in EU Member States, many of whom are actively involved in risk assessments not only in major corporations and healthcare environments but also as providers of OH services to SME's.
Occupational Health Nurses are key to the delivery of competent OH Services, part of which is assessing risks inherent in work practices and identifying appropriate action to protect the worker and enable the enterprise to perform to its most profitable.
"We are delighted to be part of this campaign with EU-OSHA", said Julie Staun after the presentation. FOHNEU is committed to its Aims which include;
To contribute to the total health, safety and well-being of the European working population, and
To maintain an open dialogue with the EU organisations responsible for health and safety, public health and EU nursing authorities."
“All of these workers’ and employers’ federations, NGOs and enterprises from different industry sectors are renowned organisations and they invest a lot of time and money”, Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA said. “We are very proud that they help us to reach the workplaces and get our main messages across: First, risk assessment is the key to preventing accidents and ill health at work – for any type of organisation, whether large or small. And secondly: Risk assessment is not necessarily complicated or bureaucratic. Even micro-firms and SMEs are able to carry out their own risk assessment. To help them, we are promoting a simple five-step approach.”
Jukka Takala also highlighted that improvements must be achieved. “Although risk assessment is a legal obligation throughout Europe, there are still companies that do not assess their risks regularly, especially in SMEs, and we would like to see this change.”
Bernie Jackson
FOHNEU Vice President
