KANBrief 1/23
Basi, the German Federal Association for Occupational Safety and Health, is the organizer of the A+A Congress, which is held at two-yearly intervals. Dr Christian Felten, Managing Director of Basi, spoke to us about organization of the A+A and Basi's other tasks and goals.
Basi is a registered association of 86 German federal and regional organizations and institutions, government ministries, the social partners, the German Social Accident Insurance, the statutory health insurance institutions, a large number of universities and research institutes, and professional associations. These bodies work together within Basi to improve safety and health at work. Our core task is organization of the international A+A Congress every two years. Incidentally, the 2023 congress will be held in Düsseldorf from 24 to 27 October, and is one of the most significant occupational safety and health events – in Germany, and indeed now also internationally.
Basi's member bodies are involved in organizing the congress. The framework for its content is first drawn up by the Basi governing committee. A call for participation is then issued. Advisory groups made up of Basi members review the proposals received. At the end of this process, the governing committee and the members' meeting decide again on the programme, which is implemented by Basi in conjunction with our partner, Messe Düsseldorf.
It's certainly a considerable task, as can be seen from the fact that the congress is usually attended by up to 5,000 people. In 2021, the entire team at the Basi office faced a task on a herculean scale and with a constantly uncertain outcome: preparing this globally respected congress whilst working for the most part remotely, and repeatedly adapting it to the conditions imposed by the pandemic. Fortunately, the situation this time is different. We have learnt, though, that the contributions are more topical and even better received if we launch the call for participation relatively late.
This year, the emphasis lies on the strategy for sustainability in occupational safety and health as one of five core topics. We're all aware of ecological sustainability, i.e. not merely exploiting a system until it collapses. Sustainability must be applied to occupational safety and health in the same way: Instead of work being performed at the expense of workers' health, measures must be adopted that, ideally, actually promote health. Further core topics are workplace health, the prevention of biological, chemical and physical hazards, and workplace preventive activity – in other words, occupational safety and health as we know it. We also have "Vision Zero Days" – events addressing the Vision Zero strategy. These are also viewed very positively by the Messe Düsseldorf trade fair organizers, as we attract a global audience with them and are able to export our standards globally for the benefit of all. We intend to organize a good in-person congress once again this year. In the evaluation of the last congress, held in 2021, many attendees stated that they benefited from an in-person event in ways that were not possible with an online event.
Other tasks set out in our charter include supporting and promoting workplace safety and health in public policy, both in Germany and internationally. We therefore use the interval between one A+A congress and the next to maintain awareness in professional circles of Basi and its members, and to communicate that safety and safeguarding of health are worthy of investment. For this purpose, we conduct ongoing public relations work through our website, the newsletter and social media. We're also a media partner of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao. In our "Basi in dialogue" series, I discuss important occupational safety and health topics with our members. Last year, for example, the focus lay upon future risks in the world of work, the topic of work planning and prevention, and the "return on prevention", i.e. the fact that sustainable preventive activity represents a good investment for companies and also benefits the economy as a whole. In my view, everyone must become as aware of occupational safety and health as they already are of climate change mitigation, and attach the same importance to it.
