Message from the President (September, 2006)

Dear Colleagues,

ICOH enters the New Century: Renewing a century of commitment to a healthy,
safe and productive work life

ICOH is an old organization, twice as old in fact as many of our collaborative partners and sister inter-governmental (IGO) and non-governmental organizations (NGO). The ICOH Centennial Congress is a sign of the Association’s sustainability, its mission and the international scientific and professional community behind it. Occupational health is a mission that does not seem to vanish in the turbulences of economic changes, world wars, business re-engineering, new technologies or new work organizations. Whatever happens in the world of work, occupational health remains an issue from decade to decade. ICOH has clearly made a contribution to the better health and safety of the working people of the world during its first century of activity.

ICOH history has been exceptionally well documented in two major documents: the Thesaurus on all ICOH Congresses containing all presentations, and on the CD-ROM of the ICOH Association History containing all original documents. We can be sure that only a very few international associations have preserved their organizational memory on such a scale as ICOH. We owe our sincere thanks for the Thesaurus of ICOH Congresses 1906–2006 to our Scientific Committee on the History of Prevention of Occupational and Environmental Diseases, Professor Bertazzi and Professor Colombi and for the ICOH History CD to our Secretary General, Sergio Iavicoli and his colleagues.

One part of the Centennial Opening Ceremonies of ICOH 2006 Congress was the signing of the ICOH Centennial Declaration (later in this issue). The Declaration calls for further global actions on the improvement of health and safety at work and commits ICOH to participate and provide its competence and expertise to support such actions. We truly renewed our century-long commitments to the improvement of health and safety at work!

The ICOH 2006 Congress clearly demonstrated the strength of the international occupational health community: more than 2,600 participants, 1,800 research communications in a total of 158 scientific sessions and a high number of smaller informal meetings were organized. In addition, Scientific Committees and numerous other groups held dozens of business and planning meetings.

Sometimes the schedule was very tight – one day I was scheduled to attend 15 meetings as well as to make a scientific presentation! On Thursday afternoon, 15 June, 26 parallel sessions were going on, with a remarkable number of attendees. Thanks to our Italian colleagues, everything was excellently orchestrated and an enormous number of different types of events were implemented effectively and accurately. We all are indebted to the President of ICOH2006, Professor Vito Foa and the Scientific Chairman, Professor Pier-Alberto Bertazzi, as well as the Executive Committee and Scientific Committees of ICOH2006. We also owe our thanks to the Fiera Milano Congress Centre and congratulate them for their excellent support service and logistics operations. The ICOH Centennial ceremonies and the Centennial Social Programme with the La Scala Concert and the Centennial Social Dinner were certainly unforgettable events for many of us. The way in which the ICOH2006 Congress was organized corresponded to the value of the association’s great centennial history. Our cordial thanks again to the organizers and participants and organizational partners!

ICOH also wanted to recognize the major contributions made by institutions and individuals to the development of our Association. Clinica del Lavoro, Professor Sven Hernberg and Professor Jerry Jeyaratnam were awarded with the Centennial Award and numerous Distinguished and Service Awards were granted as a thanks to key ICOH members and a number of external partners for the most invaluable work they have carried out for ICOH.

The Milan Congress days also included numerous ICOH business meetings. Two General Assemblies were organized and both the outgoing and the new Board convened in Milan. The meetings were well organized by the Secretary General and his staff. The new Board and leadership received valuable guidance for the next triennium. Election of Monterrey, Mexico as the venue of the ICOH2012 Congress provides us with a map for the next decade.

In the General Assemblies, the past triennium was evaluated and deemed successful, although there is always scope for further development and improvement. In the six strategic objective areas, ICOH was highly or reasonably successful. The most rewarding response of our constituents was most certainly the joining of more than 600 new ICOH members.

The world of work is changing rapidly and it is estimated that present knowledge is renewed every seven years on average. ICOH must keep abreast of the new developments in several sectors: research, training and education, industry and economies, health sector, safety, technology, new risks and hazards, demographic and social change, globalization, policy changes, development gaps, to mention but a few. As a global association, ICOH must also strengthen its organizational structure and seek for collaboration with both our traditional and new allies. The second General Assembly and the first meeting of the New Board in Milan accepted the new strategic objectives for the 2006–2009 triennium (See Strategy Box on page 3 ICOH Newsletter, PDF 536kb). The Strategy has two compartments in line with the above analysis of trends: a) the responses to substantive occupational health challenges including five special activity areas and b) the two main organizational objectives for the further development of ICOH as an association.

In the spirit of centennial declaration our Strategy is a very ambitious one and requires much work from all involved: the Officers, the Board, the Scientific Committees and other ICOH bodies, as well as every individual member. We should, however, not hesitate to take up the challenge. The most admirable success of the former generations during the 100-year history of ICOH in fact obligates us to devote our efforts, experience and competence to the further development of occupational health in the modern ages, throughout the world.

The post-Congress weeks of ICOH are traditionally very hectic. The main problem is due to the lack of information on what has happened in various business meetings in Milan or before. The officers would very much appreciate receiving information on the elections in the Scientific Committees, contact information on National Secretaries, other information relevant for coordination of activities, as soon as possible. Ideas for further development of our activities and organizations are also warmly welcome.

Though many of the key persons are still on their well-deserved annual leaves (at least in the Northern hemisphere) we try to get all the organizational formalities made during August and thus get the ICOH machine up to full speed for entering into the new triennium and into the new century of ICOH history.

To all ICOH bodies and each individual member, may I wish a productive and successful triennium on the way to the forthcoming ICOH2009 Congress in Cape Town.

Jorma Rantanen
President of ICOH

Immediately after the Milan Congress we received a very sad message from Milan on the sudden death of Professor Marco Maroni, Member of the Executive Committee of ICOH2006, Board Member, Chairman of the Scientific Committee and close long-time friend. It was a great loss to ICOH. Our tribute to Marco is published elsewhere in this issue and on the ICOH website.