Developing and implementing Occupational Safety and health (OSH) system in North-West region of Russian Federation to provide Decent and Safe work – 3rd phase (2010-2011) Executive Summary The Project is executed under the umbrella of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Health and Social Well-being (NDPHS) and its expert group SIHLWA. The Occupational Safety and health (OSH) Project is a crucial cluster of the ILO programme “Poverty Reduction, Employment Generation and Local Economic Development in the North West federal Okrug of the Russian Federation”. Improving working conditions is included as a priority in the Agreement on technical cooperation between ILO and Russia for 2006 – 2009. It is foreseen that it forms an element of a future regional Decent Work programme between the ILO and the Russian Federation. The project is supporting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), specifically the target 1 B: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people and Target 8.A: Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction - both nationally and internationally, by aiming at provision of decent and safe working conditions through the implementation of modern OSH and risk assessment systems. The Project is aimed at creation of safe working conditions, which are the important components of process of poverty reduction, employment generation and economical development of the region. The Project on OSH in the North-West federal area of the Russian Federation has been implemented by the ILO Moscow, starting from April 2005 and planned for 2 year. The second stage of the Project have been realizing since April 2007 (until 31 December 2009). The Project is funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The Project is acting as a link between international and Russian experts and institutions, providing the latest international and European experience adapted for the Russian situation. The on-going Russian administrative reform is shifting the responsibility for state OSH management systems from the federal level to the regional level. The project has been instrumental in introducing the ILO tri-partite Guidelines on OSH management systems (ILO-OSH 2001) into an Inter-State standard GOST 12.0.230-2007, which has come into force in Russia in July 2009. The Project further assists the Russian partners to implement the objectives of the Northern Dimension Partnership on Public health and Social Wellbeing, and specifically its strategy “Health at Work”. This strategy is an implementation strategy of the ILO, WHO and European Union OSH strategies, adapted for the Northern Dimension countries. In focusing on working conditions and linking them with public health issues, it also pays attention to HIV/AIDS, healthy lifestyles (alcohol, tobacco), gender and child labour issues. Thus, the Project has hit a window of opportunity, whereas the demand for information and consultations in the region is high and the Finnish, Nordic and international experiences can be provided for adaptation and consideration by the regional OSH authorities. The impacts and results of the project activities in 2005-2009 are very visible in the society, because the Project has been targeted on utilising research to achieve practical results that can be used successfully in practical work by the all Project partners and participants – OSH authorities, Trade Unions, enterprises, OSH institutes, OSH Training Centres, Employers’ organisations and others. Practical results and achievements of the Project and their implementation show real benefits from international cooperation in the sphere of OSH for the Russian OSH community.