ICOH COMMITTEEOCCUPATIONAL HEALTH
FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
NEWSLETTER 6 12/2004

Dear members of the committee,
we have returned from the 6th international conference on Occupational Health for
Health Care Workers in Kitakyushu. In this newsletter we mainly report about thisconference including a protocol of the Committee meeting.
With best wishes for the coming year
Gustav Wickström and Hans-Martin Hasselhorn

The chairman´s report from the 6th conference
The conference in Japan turned out to be both nice and fruitful. Our Japanese colleagues had worked very hard to arrange the conference and they succeeded inevery respect. All the arrangements worked smoothly, even if the photographer had
some troubles climbing the ladder to reach the roof of the entrance to the Ramazzini
hall. We passed this Italian gentleman every day. Rain or shine, he waited bronze ted
for us outside the hall given his name. The lecture halls were technically very wellequipped, making it easy for everybody both to hear and see the presentations. The
poster hall was by the side of the luncheon restaurant, which made it easy to get acquainted with the poster presentations.
Over 300 participants from more than 40 countries took part in the conference. Asthe ICOH board happened to have their meeting in Kitakyushu, we were joint not onlyby the two vice-presidents which are members of our committee, Prof Alain
Cantineau and Prof Ruddy Facci, but also by the President Jorma Rantanen and theSecretary General Sergio Iavicoli. In the group portrait taken outside the hall you canalso se Professor Jean-Luc Marié, chairman of ISSA.
Not only did we learn a lot about the experiences from various parts of the world.
Many of us also met old friends and everybody made new ones. For all this we aremost grateful toProfessor Toshiteru Okubo
Professor Susumu Oda
Professor Toshiaki Higashi
and their "all stars" colleagues. Thanks you once more for a very nice experience!

ICOH COMMITTEE ‘OH FOR HCW ‘ Newsletter 2 06/2003

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Participants of the 6th ICOH CONFERENCE OH FOR HCW IN KITAKYUSHU JAPAN, Oct 8-10 2004

6th ICOH CONFERENCE OH FOR
HCW IN KITAKYUSHU JAPAN, Oct8-10 2004
http://www.hcw2004uoeh.jp/Business Meeting:Committee OH for HCW
Friday October 8, 18.00-20.00.
31 people were present:
Attendance:
Committee members
Ferdinand Smith
Ian Symington
Toshiaki Higashi
Susumu Oda
Abdeljalil el Kholti
Antoon de Schryver
Jean-Francois Gehanno
Ruddy Facci
Alain Cantineau
Philippa Momah
Robert Orford
Gustav Wickstöm
Hans-Martin Hasselhorn

Guests:Marjukka Laine (Finland)
Esther van der Schoot (Netherlands)

Jorman Rantanen (Finland)
Annie Leprince (France, ISSA)Jean Luic Marié (France, ISSA)
Janine Cantineau (France)
Ken Takahashi (Japan)
Kazutaka Kogi (Japan)
Kazuhiro Uchida (Japan)
Toru Yoshikawa (Japan)
Antoinette Ofili (Nigeria)
Obehi Okojie (Nigeria)
Ava Novanete (Chile)
Graziela Gonzalez (Paraguay)
Naesinee Chaiear (Thailand)
Gerry Ejkemans (WHO, Geneva)
Ronaldo K. Fujii (Japan, Brazil)

1. Opening of the meeting
Introductory round, 2 representatives
from ISSA (Annie Leprince and JeanLuc Marié) and one from the WHO(Gerry Eijkemans) present.
2. Cooperation with the Work Groupon Biological Agents and Infectious
Diseases - Ruddy Facci informed
about the new ICOH work group on
Biological Agents. The main aim of thecommittee is to cover all upcoming oc-ICOH COMMITTEE ‘OH FOR HCW ‘ Newsletter 6 12/2004
cupational microbiological problems.
As the first focus, the group has chosen the occurrence and prevention of
infectious diseases among health care
workers and travelling workers. Close
cooperation with our committee is desired. It was decided that a smaller
subgroup (Ruddy, Robert, Antoon,Jean-Francois G., Gustav) would meetduring the present conference and develop further plans for activities (seeseparate report in this newsletter).
3. Joint statement on protection ofhealth care workers by ICOH andISSA
After several minor modifications thestatement (enclosed below) wasagreed upon and publicly declared on
Saturday. Philippa wondered about thedissemination of the statement: several
ways were proposed such as the ICOH
newsletter and ICOH internet page.
Robert might get it on the NIOSH
newsletter. Philippa emphasised theneed to have this declaration supported by WHO and/or ILO in order tohave significant impact in all countries.
4. Milano conference
Jorma Rantanen reported that the Milano ICOH 2006 conference (celebrating 100 years of ICOH) shall cover a)the past, b) the presence, and c) thefuture. We should remember this whenwe are planning our activities.
Some months ago our committee hasannounced to the organizers that weare willing to arrange at least 2 sessions and to have one key lecture covering health care.
The discussion has brought the following proposals:a) working conditions for HCW OH indeveloping countries, OH for HCW
in developing countries,b) Physical load in patient handlingc) Psychosocial factors in HC work.

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Topic a) might be arranged together
with the ICOH committee for development and WHO collaborating network(proposal by Gerry Eijkemans) andtopic Philippa, Abdeljalil el Kholti and
Kazutaka Kogi will coordinate further
evaluation of topic "a".
b) with the International Ergonomic
Association (IEA); Sue Hignett, chair of
the working group on patient handling,
had approached Gustav because ofthat.
Most probably, there will be money
available for some participants fromdeveloping countries.
5. Future conferences arranged by
the committee
The committee has been approached
to conduct an ICOH conference together with the ICOH committees on a)ageing and b) shift work. To have ajoint conference is explicitly appreciated by the ICOH board. During theforthcoming conference on work abilityin Verona (Oct. 18-20) HM will discuss
this with Giovanni Costa and Juhani
Ilmarinen.
Organisers, time and location are still
open. Both Alain Cantineau (Strasbourg) and Abdeljalil el Kholti (Casablanca) said they might be able to arrange the conference.
6. Procedure electing committee
chairman
Alain reported that there shortly will be
new guidelines on the procedures ofchoosing the committee chairs. Candidates would have to announce theirwillingness to act as chair at least 6months prior to the election.
7. Membership situation
The committee has at present 43members. During the Kitakyushu conference, several participants announced that they would like to join thecommittee.

ICOH COMMITTEE ‘OH FOR HCW ‘ Newsletter 6 12/2004

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HOMEPAGE
8. Other questions
Jorma Rantanen mentioned that ICOH
would appreciate ICOH committees toproduce guidelines on matters of special interest in their field.
ICOH CONFERENCE OH FOR HCW
IN KITAKYUSHU JAPAN, Oct 8-10
2004
Joint declaration
The (enclosed) “Joint declaration of theInternational Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH) and the International Social Security Association(ISSA): Recommendations for protecting Health Care Workers’ Health” waspresented to the public on Oct 9 by thepresident of ICOH, Jorma Rantanen,
and the president of ISSA Jean-LucMarié.
Presentations
You can download several of the presentations (covering results of the European NEXT-Study) from the NEXT web
sites: www.next-study.net.

This is the internet link to our committee homepage.
www.arbmed.uni-wuppertal.de/icoh-sc-hcw.

MEMBERSWe are welcoming two new members,of the committee Dr. Choy and Dr.
Machtelinckx and are looking forward
to an active participation.
On the other hand, Pierre Robillard(Canada) who has organised our Montreal Conference has left the committee
because he is working in another field.
We acknowledge and thank for his
substantial contribution to the committee’s work.
Dr Kenneth Choy
Occupational Health Department
Ministry of Manpower
18 Havelock Road #05-01
Singapore 059764
Kenneth_CHOY@mom.gov.sg
Dr.Vera Machtelinckx
Tervuursesteenweg 461
1982 Elewijt; BELGIUM
Phone : 003215331484
GSM :0475/78.04.47
Vera.Machtelinckx@Intermedicale.be

Joint declaration of the International Commission on OccupationalHealth (ICOH) and the International Social Security Association(ISSA):
Recommendations for protecting Health Care Workers’ HealthFacts• Health care facilities’ main “resource” is the staff comprising different professional groups. Whatever the group, health care professionals are highly committed to their work and emphasize care quality given to patients, sometimes
to their own health detriment.

• Occupational health risks in health care work are numerous. They are related
to exposure to the following: infectious agents, various chemicals (includingdrugs), allergens, radiation, heavy musculoskeletal loads, shift work, physicalviolence, various forms of mental charge and psychological stress.

ICOH COMMITTEE ‘OH FOR HCW ‘ Newsletter 6 12/2004

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• Occupational risks prevention for health care workers varies from country tocountry. In some countries preventive measures are fairly well developed, inothers they are practically non-existent.

• Health care workers often have little knowledge of their occupational risks aswell as preventive means.

• Regarding infectious risks, prevention is mostly insufficient in countries wherethese diseases are highly prevalent.

Recommendations for policy makers, managers, healthcare professionals and occupational health and safety specialists• Occupational risks prevention needs to be an integral part of management, administration and assessment processes, particularly health care procedures andhealth care quality assessment.

• Occupational health and safety services must be available for all health care
workers (HCWs) whatever health care facilities.

• All HCWs occupational risks must be regularly assessed, covering physical,chemical, ergonomic, biological and psychosocial work environment.

• Systematic occupational risks prevention programmes must be defined, allocating
specific means required. HCW must actively participate in planning and implementation of these programs.

• All health care staff must receive information and training on occupational risks
and preventive means, including hygiene.

• Collective protective measures, including those related to hand washing and otherpersonal hygiene facilities, must be implemented. Appropriate personal protective
equipment must be provided to staff.

• Occupational infectious risks prevention must be integrated into each organization’s hygiene policy: nosocomial infections’ fight includes protective measures forhealth care workers.

• Health care staff immunization programmes’ implementation is necessary. Accessto medical advice, vaccination and, if needed, post-exposure prophylaxis must be
provided free of charge.

• Prevention programmes must be reviewed, and risks regularly reassessed to improve prevention.

ICOH COMMITTEE ‘OH FOR HCW ‘ Newsletter 6 12/2004

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ICOH Committee Occupational Health for Health Care Workers
CHAIRMAN:SECRETARY

Gustav Wickström, MD, Professor
Director
Turku Regional Institute of Occupational HealthHans-Martin Hasselhorn, MD, PhD
FB 14 - Department of Occupational Medicine
University of Wuppertal
Gauss-Strasse 20D-42097 Wuppertal
GERMANY
Tel: +49 202 439 2112
Fax: +49 202 439 2068
hasselho@uni-wuppertal.deSF- 20500 Turku
FINLAND
Tel.: +358 2 2736510
Fax: +358 2 2736555
Gustav.Wickstrom@ttl.fi