The World Health Organization (WHO) is the UN specialised agency for health. The WHO’s objective is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health’. The WHO considers health to be a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Safe Work Australia and the WHO
Safe Work Australia is one of only two designated Australian members of the
WHO Global Network of Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health (WHO CC in OH). The network of WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health was established in 1990, with a role to assist the WHO and its regional offices in implementing the
WHO Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All.
Safe Work Australia was redesignated as a WHO CC in OH for a further four years from August 2009 to August 2013. We provide eight projects as our contribution to helping the WHO to meet the objectives of the Global Plan of Action for Workers Health. A full outline of each of these projects is listed in the WHO updated compendium on the WHO website. In addition Australia's formal commitment to implementing the projects is summarised in the 'Grid of CC Projects' and in the 'Summary List of Project Title' . The eight projects are listed and summarised below form our contribution:
- National OHS Strategy 2002-2012
- National Harmonisation of work health and safety legislation
- National Hazard Exposure Worker Surveillance Survey (NHEWS)
- Comparative Performance Monitoring (CPM)
- Climate Change
- Nanotechnology
- The Occupational component of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), and
- The Cochrane Collaboration in OH.