This workshop, organised by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) in collaboration with the European Network Education and Training in Occupational Safety and Health (ENETOSH), not only discussed future competence requirements against the backdrop of challenges posed by climate change, digitalisation and ethical issues, but also worked with participants to develop a competence “tableau”.

James Pomeroy, Arup, United Kingdom, opened the discussion with provocative ‘what if’ scenarios and challenged traditional definitions of what the occupational safety and health professional is, does and stands for. He called for a redefinition of occupational safety and health, with less emphasis on specific skills and expertise and more on flexibility, adaptability and uncertainty. He demonstrated that occupational safety and health plays a central role in business transformation, the green transition and social justice. Simon Watson, ACWA Power, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, called for safety to be taken seriously and for a focus on the essentials: an occupational safety and health professional in 2025 must be able to manage cultural complexity, operational ambiguities and financial pressures and hold people accountable. Occupational safety and health professionals are no longer just inspectors or consultants, but systems thinkers and relationship managers. These two outstanding keynote speeches were followed by three concise thematic presentations: Tim Tregenza, EU-OSHA, on the impact of digitalisation on the work of occupational safety and health professionals and their skills; Ahmed Ismail, MSOSH, Malaysia, on developing the environmental competence of occupational safety and health professionals, strategic leadership skills and a strong ethical responsibility for sustainability and the well-being of the community; Evelien Jonkeren, ISSA, with reflections and concrete examples on values, morals and ethics in the work context in times of change.

In the second part of the workshop, participants worked in small groups switching between different tables on specific questions relating to the three core topics of the workshop: climate change, digitalisation and ethics.

The expected outcome of this interactive part was a first step towards identifying the challenges and the associated competence requirements and gaps. The result of this exercise surprised both the participants and the organisers:

Competency Tableau for OSH Professionals

The workshop results were summarized by the rapporteur Christopher Davis and will be incorporated into the roadmap of the World Assembly, the Osaka Declaration and, ultimately, the starting point for further discussion on individual and collective capabilities at EXPO 2030 in Riyadh.

You will find the video recording of the event on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI-O5nUXKzk (Link will open in a new browser tab or window)
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The joint IOSH – ENETOSH workshop was carried out as part of the cooperation with The Global Initiative for Safety, Health & Wellbeing (GISHW).
© for all images and video recordings: GISHW.

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