The NIOH’s first mandate as a WHO Collaborating Centre (CC) in Occupational Health (OH) was from 2005-2009, and the institute is currently undergoing a re-designation process for a second four-year term.

Prior to the first designation, the NIOH had a long-standing association with the WHO, and over the years has been involved in numerous WHO projects, such as WHO/SA Technical Cooperation Programme in Occupational Health and Safety, 1996-2003, and the ILO/WHO Joint Initiative for Global Silicosis Elimination. With its many contributions to the current 2009-2012 Global Network Workplan of the WHO CC in OH, the NIOH continues to be an integral part of the global occupational health agenda.

The Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres makes a substantial contribution to the WHO goal of “occupational health for all”; they are the “on-the-ground” actors, with capacities and networks in developed and developing countries, and play a key role in capacity building. WHO estimates that only about 10 to 15% of workers worldwide have some kind of access to occupational health services, and extending coverage is a key challenge.

Networking and twinning arrangements among institutions in developing and industrialized countries increasingly provides a basis for equitable progress of countries in different stages of development.

Prof David Rees, former NIOH Director, and currently Division Director: Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, and Ms Claudina Nogueira (Section of Communication and International Collaboration), drove the process of achieving Collaborating Centre status, and are currently involved with the Global Network and support for programmes in the SADC Region.

The Work Plan 2006-2010 of the Network of the WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health was launched at the meeting held in Stresa, Italy, in June 2006. The six Activity Areas that served as the basis for work during the next five years were:

• Activity Area 1: Global situation analysis
• Activity Area 2: Evidence for action to support national policies and delivery plans
• Activity Area 3: Practical approaches to identify and reduce occupational risks
• Activity Area 4: Education, training and technical materials
• Activity Area 5: Development and expansion of occupational health services
• Activity Area 6: Communication and networking

A number of projects were submitted to the various Activity Areas, by occupational health institutes from all over the world, including the NIOH; the numerous accepted projects meet the following criteria – they are all regional, involve several Collaborating Centres and various countries, and have the objective of developing practical tools and solutions to improve workers’ health and working conditions. The previous compendium of projects is available on the WHO website for consultation.
www.who.int/occupational_health/network/2006compendium/en/index.html

A Declaration on Workers’ Health was compiled at the WHO meeting in Italy in June 2006, and emphasized the importance of occupational health and safety on the agenda of the WHO and all member countries. The declaration was signed by the Advisory Committee of the Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health and the institutions represented in this Advisory Committee were:

• National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), USA
• National Institute for Working Life (NIWL), Sweden
• Finnish Institute for Occupational Health (FIOH), Finland
• Institute for Pesticide Safety and Health Risk Prevention, Italy
• National University of Singapore
• FUNDACENTRO, Brazil
• National Institute for Occupational Health (NIOH), South Africa

The current Work Plan 2009-2012 of the Network of the WHO Collaborating Centres in Occupational Health is based on the Global Plan of Action (GPA) on Workers’ Health and has five main objectives:
  Objective 1: Devise and implement policy instruments on workers’ health
  Objective 2: Protect and promote health at the workplace
  Objective 3: Improve the performance of and access to occupational health services
  Objective 4: Provide and communicate evidence for action and practice
  Objective 5: Incorporate workers’ health into non-health policies and projects

The Planning Committee of the Global Network of the WHO CC in OH convened in Munich, Germany, 15-16 September 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to initiate the transition between the 2006-2010 and the 2009-2012 Global Network Plans and to draft processes for inviting projects from the CC Directors to fill gaps in the 2009-2012 Work Plan, with respect to advancing key priorities endorsed by member states in the GPA on Workers’ Health. Many projects from the previous Work Plan (2006-2010) have been incorporated into the current Work Plan (2009-2012); some have been modified so as to be aligned with the objectives and priorities of the GPA for Workers’ Health document. The current compendium of projects is available on the WHO website for consultation; it is a living document which is updated periodically, as the project work progresses and as new projects are included.
www.who.int/occupational_health/network/newsletter_15_compendium/en/index.html

The WHO CC in Occupational Health Global Network Plan has an electronic newsletter “Collaborating Centres Connection” which is published and disseminated electronically by NIOSH, USA. The electronic newsletters provide a forum for disseminating information related to the work being carried out by various WHO CCs in OH, and issues can be accessed on-line:
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N1.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N2.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N3.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N4.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N5.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N6.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N7.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N8.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N9.html
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/CCC/CCCnewsV1N10.html