Professional Development Conference on Digital Platform

Scientific Committee on Rural Health collaborated for the Professional Development Conference conducted by the American Society of Safety Professionals, India Chapter in association with National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, India and ICOH Scientific Committee on Occupational Health in Construction Industry. The Conference was conducted on the digital platform in the virtual mode on 27th June 2020. The theme of the Conference was “Striving towards Sustainability through Innovation & Digitalization in HSE”

Prof. Gert van der Laan, Past Chair of Scientific Committee on Rural Health, Founder-Netherlands Centre for Occupational Diseases, Amsterdam and Advisor at Foundation for Learning & Developing Occupational Health, Netherlands was the speaker for a Plenary session in the Conference. He spoke on “Workers’ Health & Safety in Green Jobs” (www.icohrural.org)

A green economy that does not adequately protect workers will be perceived as exploitive and therefore unsustainable (WHO Conference on green jobs). Green jobs are meant to be decent jobs that produce goods, provide services or make production processes more energy and resource efficient and less polluting (ILO). Green jobs can be created in traditional and new sectors, such as: renewable energy (wind, solar), sustainable agriculture, sustainable construction and waste management and recycling.

Occupational Health and Safety issues are often neglected in the upstart phase of ambitious green projects and hence OHS-vigilance is very much needed. Different examples of green jobs and their health hazards were highlighted in Prof. Gert van der Laan’s talk. Worker’s health and safety in Green Jobs is an important topic in the present scenario and the presentation was informative to the delegates.