Mining Occupational Safety and Health

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The Scientific Committee (SC) Mining Occupational Safety and Health (MinOSH) provides a rich platform for theoretical and methodological approaches in mining research and advocacies. It encourages both the science of research and the art of communications for policy statements and advocacies in order to promote occupational safety and health (OSH) in mining.

The thrust of MinOSH activities is aimed to be multi-sectoral (involving large, middle and small scale industries, and their workers), multi-disciplinary (involving all disciplines such as medicine, occupational health and safety, allied health, industrial hygiene, social scientists, and engineering, among others), multi-level (both country-specific and international in nature), and multi-strategic (research, advocacy, extension work, and program/ policy-oriented).

MinOSH also encourages networking and meetings of various stakeholders to promote ideas and share knowledge and experiences about workers and workplace health and safety promotion worldwide. It covers a wide array of groups in both large and small scale mining, formal and informal sectors, as well as the most vulnerable group such as the small scale miners, women and children involved or affected by mining.

Historical Overview

MinOSH was established as a scientific committee in June 2015, at the ICOH congress in Seoul. Prior to that, MinOSH was a technical working group. The MinOSH Executive Committee was created in 2012 in Cancun. It is one of the newest and youngest Scientific Committees of the International Commission on Occupational Health which was founded in 1906.

MinOSH Objectives and Activities

Specifically, MinOSH's main objectives are:

1. To promote occupational safety and health in mining globally and locally.
2. To produce scientific knowledge on mining, and its risks and challenges.
3. To build a repository of resources for use as guide for basic health services in mining.
4. To provide a rich forum for exchanges of ideas, research outputs and best practices in mining.
5. To positively influence policies on mining worldwide through advocacies at international bodies such as the United Nations, World Health Organization, and the International Labor Organization.
6. To promote collaboration among various international scientific organizations on mining.

MinOSH Activities Include:

1. To disseminate information concerning mining OHS.
2. To provide support to members on mining occupational health and safety (OHS) interventions and trainings.
3. To improve occupational health services in mining by sharing knowledge and best practices.
4. To publish articles on mining OHS.
5. To create a Mining OHS toolkit as guide for basic health services.
6. To contribute scientifically to conferences, symposiums, seminars, among others.
7. To support efforts to reduce mercury exposure and its impact on humans, with special emphasis on vulnerable populations.
8. To provide information on artisanal gold mining and other materials and successful practical interventions for miners, children, communities, and health professionals.


The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee
The MinOSH Executive Committee consists of the SC MinOSH Chair and Secretary, Chairs and Co-Chairs of the Sub-Committees.

Chair and Secretary Triennium 2018-2021:
Chair: ERIK JORS, MD MIH PhD, Clinic of Occupational Health and Safety at Odense University Hospital in Denmark.
Secretary: JINKY LEILANIE LU, MOH PhD, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines Manila.


MINOSH SUB-COMMITTEES:
1. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR MINING
Chair: Stephan Bose-O'Reilly, MD
Institute and Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine
University Hospital, LMU Munich
WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health
Munich, Germany
1.1. INFORMAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING
Co-