Message from the President (May, 2006)

Dear ICOH Colleagues,

Less than two months is left of the ICOH Triennium 2003–2006 and the Officers, Scientific Committees and numerous Task Groups and Working Groups have been busy preparing their reports for the Milan Board meeting and for the General Assembly. The Members have sent their abstracts and prepared presentations for the Milan event. Right now the level of activity in ICOH is exceptionally high and will continue to be so until the Milan event. ICOH is critically dependent on the voluntary commitment of the Members and the Officers, Scientific Committees, various Task Groups and Working Groups who have devoted their time and competence to the development of occupational health worldwide in their respective national communities. The Board and the General Assembly in Milan will receive an activity report outlining the vitality of ICOH as a whole, although we can also recognize several points for improvement. Let me already now thank the ICOH Membership for such enthusiastic contributions during the whole Centennium and during its last Triennium 2003–2006.

During the whole triennium changes in work life have continued at a high pace. Often work life developments are in the frontline of the whole global change. Occupational health is usually left in the post-hoc position allowing us to merely follow up the developments and try to alleviate and correct the negative impacts of changes to the health and safety of working people. There is a need to get a more anticipatory grasp on such developments and also to make use of and promote the positive aspects and opportunities which may be available in the process of change. For example, the introduction of new technologies can also bring along, in addition to certain new challenges and risks, new opportunities for more effective protection of workers and for the promotion of their health and safety. In the ICOH strategies for the next triennium we carefully need to study such opportunities and make full use of them wherever they are available.

The organization of the ICOH 2006 Congress is in its final stages. Both the size and the content of the Congress will make it a really great event with more than 2000 abstracts, hundreds of oral presentations, high-quality keynotes, and special sessions. The estimates for the total number of participants vary between 3000 and 4000. The social programme will be dominated by the ICOH Centennial Events celebrating the 100-year history of our Association. The Milan Colleagues have made enormous efforts to get this all organized and I am fully convinced that the week starting on 11 June will be an unforgettable experience for all of us.

It is still possible to register and those who have not yet had an opportunity to do so can do it, preferably before travelling to Milan. If advance registration is not possible for you, on-site registration will also be available. Be careful, however, to reserve your airline tickets and accommodation in time as there are a number of other major international events in Milan in the same week.

Let me, at the last minute, take up a couple of practical issues concerning ICOH association activities.
The Secretary General has sent out the voting ballots for the election of the Vice Presidents and the Board Members. He has given detailed instructions for the voting practice. Many of us have already sent the ballots but not all who have a right to vote. Here I would like to repeat a couple of important points on voting:

a) First of all, we would like to see as many ICOH members in good standing as possible voting in order to get a strong mandate for the Officers, Board Members and other elected actors for the next triennium.

b) Please read and follow the Secretary General's instructions for voting carefully as failure in formalities may risk the validity of your ballot. Seal the orange voting ballot into the smaller envelope without putting your name on it. Seal the small nameless envelope containing your secret voting ballot into a larger envelope which is addressed to the Secretariat General. Don't take out your name tag from the upper left corner of the larger envelope as it is the way to check who has voted and whether she/ he has a right to vote. (As in the national postal elections, the checking of voting rights and the confidential content of the vote are separated this way).

c) Please remember that the voting ballot must reach the ICOH Secretariat General before 11 May 2006. This implies that you must send it sufficiently in advance so that it is in Rome by the stipulated deadline.

d) Please also remind your ICOH Member Colleagues to vote by the deadline as all we occupational health people are very busy and attention may be directed to many other topical issues.

As I stated in the previous message, the election of the Scientific Committee Officers also needs to be carried out in an organized way. The Secretary General has sent out the message concerning the eligibility of the ICOH Members to SC Officer positions. He has also allocated the times for the business meetings of the Scientific Committees in Milan. The Secretary General has emphasized that only ICOH members in good standing can be elected, and for a maximum of two tenures, and only members in good standing can vote. Each candidate for the Chair should be proposed by three members other than the person him/herself. As some inquiries on practices have been made, let me clarify once again some important points on the SC activities.

The SC Officers, no matter whether running for the second term or outgoing, will organize the election meeting. After the election the "old" SC Chair shall make a proposal to the President on the appointment of the Chair. The minutes of the election meeting, including the outcome of voting with numbers of votes and list of members who were present, must be attached to the proposal. The President, in consultation with the Vice-President in charge of the Scientific Committees, finally appoints the Chairperson for the Committee and provides an official ICOH document on the appointment. We also expect to have the work plan of the Scientific Committee for the new Triennium within three months after Milan.

a) The Secretary of the Committee should also be discussed within the Committee and then the Chair of the Committee makes his/her decision concerning who should be the Secretary. The decision must be sent to the ICOH President for approval and again an official ICOH document will be given on the appointment.

b) The SC Chair can also be elected on consensus if all who are present do agree on the person. Such a case corresponds to an election in which all voters voted for the same person. Even in such a case the formal documentation described above is needed, as it belongs to good association practice.

c) Each elected Chair and Secretary of the SC must provide contact information to the Secretary General and the Vice President in charge of SCs immediately after the election. (Name, title, affiliation, e-mail address, fax number, postal address and phone numbers are needed). If possible, please give thist information already in Milan to the Secretariat of ICOH, even though the final appointment has not yet been made, as that information is needed in further contacts between the ICOH Leadership and the Committee Officers.

As the final appointment of the SC Chairs is made in consultation with the Vice-President responsible for SCs, the appointment of the SC Chairs by the President can be done only after the election of the Vice-Presidents has been completed in Milan.

As there has been wide variation in the activity levels of different Scientific Committees we would like to see that the Committees consider planning certain minimum outputs during the forthcoming Triennium. As you remember, the Iguassu General Assembly called on the present Committees to consider the following points as the SC outcomes for the period 2003–2006:

The minimum standard for each Committee should be:

1. At least one scientific meeting between the ICOH World Congresses.
2. We would also like to see at least one scientific output during the triennium. The output should be produced on the key theme relevant to the Scientific Committee´s research area. The selection of the theme is up to the Committee and the output may take the form of ´State of the Art Report´, ´Position Paper´ or respective output which can be used by the ICOH as a whole or by the individual members as a scientific background for preparing guidelines, fact sheets, ICOH statements or other information materials.
3. Of course all the relevant activities exceeding the proposed minimum are welcomed and highly appreciated.
   I hope these practical instructions will help all the actors to prepare for the Milan event.
   Some of the current Committees have indeed done much more than the mere minimum, but unfortunately there are some which have not shown any activity at all. In the case of an entirely sleeping Committee the Board may consider closing it in order to give space for new Committees.

Looking at the centennial history of ICOH we have full reason to celebrate in Milan. I hope we can all join in in the Centennial Ceremonies and make them a historical event. May I propose that we do this in genuine ICOH spirit, enjoying being together and tasting the Lombardy culture, history and hospitality and respecting the great tradition of our 100-year old Occupational Health Community.

May I bid each and every one of you cordially welcome!

Jorma Rantanen
President of ICOH