KANBrief 4/24
To mark its 30th anniversary, KAN, the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization, hosted a symposium entitled “Occupational safety and health and standardization: between global harmonization and national interests” on 13 November in Berlin. Two keynote speeches and the panel discussions that followed focused in particular on the geopolitical challenges facing occupational safety and health and standardization.
Dr Stefan Hussy, Director of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), welcomed around 120 guests to the DGUV’s Berlin site. He emphasized that KAN holds particular value for the DGUV: firstly, because it keeps track of all standards concerning occupational safety and health; secondly, because it represents the interests of occupational safety and health in standardization policy and activity.
Standardization has attracted growing attention in recent years, particularly on the international political stage. Some countries view it as a strategic political and economic instrument, and intervene accordingly in standardization activity in order to achieve their own national and economic objectives. In his keynote speech opening the first part of the event, Christoph Winterhalter, Chairman of the Executive Board of DIN (the German Institute for Standardization), explained the challenges facing standardization, in particular as a result of geopolitical developments.
This was followed by a panel discussion between Mr Winterhalter, Gisela Eickhoff (Harting Stiftung & Co. KG), Thomas Fischer (German Trade Union Confederation, DGB), Oliver Schollmeyer (Confederation of German Employers’ Associations, BDA) and Dr Thomas Zielke (German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, BMWK). The panel members were in broad agreement regarding the key role still played by Germany in standardization at ISOlevel. Germany holds a strong position in international standardization activity, said Zielke. “We account for 15 to 18 percent of the experts on these committees.” However, Mr Fischer, trade union representative, qualified this by saying that in view of the lack of transparency and poor access to the standardization process, societal interest groups and trade unions in particular lacked the resources needed for them to participate comprehensively, particularly given that the stage is now set to become increasingly international.
The second part of the event focused on the effects of the increasing internationalization of standardization and the associated potential risks for occupational safety and health. In his keynote speech, Peer-Oliver Villwock (German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, BMAS; Chair of KAN), made the case for KAN’s European and international networking activity. In the subsequent panel discussion with Séverine Brunet (Institut national de recherche et de sécurité, INRS, France), Marcus Hussing (DGUV), Dr Sebastian Schneider (German Trade Union Federation, DGB; alternating KAN Chair) and Kai Schweppe (Baden-Württemberg Industry and Employers’ Association, UBW; alternating KAN Chair), Mr Villwock affirmed that “many countries envy Germany for all relevant stakeholders being represented in KAN”. The panel participants agreed that owing to KAN and the principles governing standardization in occupational safety and health, the future bodes well for the status of occupational safety and health interests in standardization in Germany. However, activities must be developed further and strategically in order to assure the sustained and effective representation of occupational safety and health interests in national and international standardization activity in the future.
Tim Sausen
sausen@kan.de
Sonja Miesner
miesner@kan.de