US - EU Cooperation on Workplace Safety and Health

The eighth joint US – EU conference on OSH cooperation between the United States and the European Union was held on September 17-19, 2015 in Fort Worth, Texas. The conference theme, as in previous years, was “Critical Issues in Occupational Safety and Health”. Topics included Preventing Hazards in Energy Production; Nanotechnology – Materials at the Workplace; and Health and Safety and the Changing Structure of Work.

The seventh joint US – EU conference on OSH cooperation between the United States and European Union was held on July 11-13, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. Topics included Chemicals; Prevention of Catastrophic Accidents; Nanotechnology; and Occupational Safety and Health in a Green Economy. The 7th US/EU conference provided a forum to deepen US/EU collaboration on the launch of the first dedicated global wiki on occupational safety and health. The launch is slated to take place in 2013.

The sixth joint US – EU conference between the United States and the European Union, titled “Critical Issues on Worker Health and Safety”, was held September 22-24, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts. Topics included Chemical Regulation and Control; OSH Strategic Approaches; Safety and Health Programs (Risk Assessment); and Safety and Health Knowledge Management.

The fifth joint EU – US conference on OSH cooperation between the United States and the European Union was held November 7-9, 2007 in Cascais, Portugal. Topics include Emergency Preparedness and Worker Safety & Health; Health and Safety Education and Training; New and Emerging Occupational Safety & Health Issues; and Occupational Safety and Health Strategic Approaches.

The fourth joint EU – US conference on OSH cooperation between the United States and the European Union was held September 14 – 16, 2005 in Orlando, Florida. Topics included Global management of chemicals; Advancing good practices in health and safety at the corporate level; Immigrant’s Safety and Health; and Contractor Safety.

The third joint EU – US conference on OSH cooperation was held on the Greek island of Lemnos, May 28 – 30, 2003. The conference was organized by the European Commission, the Greek Presidency and the US DOL, Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). Topics included Chemicals in the workplace; Stress and its relationship to organizational changes and improvement of the work environment; Quantitative and qualitative indicators – monitoring and evaluation; and Partnerships.

The second joint US/EU conference, “Critical Issues in Occupational Safety and Health” was held in San Francisco, November 15-17, 2000. Conference topics included Ergonomics; Safety and Health Management Systems; Worker Rights and Participation; and Small and Medium Size Businesses is a project of the US DOL, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the EU European Agency for Health and Safety at Work (EU Agency). The project is a result of the 1998 Joint EU – US Conference on Health and Safety at Work held in Luxembourg, October 1998.