European Conference on "Safety and Health and Employability"

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Press release 129/99 29.7.1999

Good safety and health conditions at the workplace foster a productive environment and help increase the employability of workers.

The Finnish Presidency and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work will be organising a conference in Bilbao on 27-29 September 1999 which will focus on the impact of safety and health on the employability of workers at both Member State and EU-level. The goal of the conference will be to achieve a common understanding of the issues involved and identify how to approach and develop activities at national and European level.

The process has been initiated by the Finnish Presidency with a discussion about employability of ageing workers in July in Oulu, Finland.

Employability is about investing in human resources through promoting measures to improve employees´ skills, work capacity and well-being. Work capacity and performance strongly link occupational safety and health to employability and employment strategy.

The quality of work and its organisation influence economic output, the availability of skilled labour, the motivation of personnel and development of human resources in general. Therefore, good safety and health is not only important to the individual worker´s own well-being and employability, but also to the competitiveness of business and enterprise in general.

Promoting the well-being of workers leads to increased employment
capacity and employability. A healthy, productive and employable workforce means a reduced risk of exclusion from the labour market and improved competitiveness. Equally, positive measures in safety and health such as workplace redesign and new forms of work organisation increase the employability of workers, reintegrating and rehabilitating those groups of workers most at risk of exclusion such as older workers and physically impaired workers.

Experts at both the national and European level will take part with the strong participation of Europe´s social partners. The conference will be opened in the presence of Juan José Ibarretxe, the President of the Basque Country, and Manuel Pimentel, Spanish Minister for Labour Social Affairs. Mr Markku Lehto, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Health, will give an opening speach on behalf of Finland. Ms Eva Biaudet, the Finnish Minister of Health and Social Services will close the conference.

The Conference will be hosted jointly by the Finnish Presidency of the
European Union and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
at the Euskalduna Conference Centre, Bilbao, Spain on 27-29 September
1999.

Press enquiries:

Lars-Mikael Bjurström, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Department
for Occupational Safety and Health, tel. 040 706 7290

Alun Jones, European Agency, tel. +34 94 479 4377, fax. + 358 3
2608557

Conference information on the web site of the European Agency for Safety
and Health at Work