New chairperson announces Agency plans to target ‘Dangerous Substances’
News release - 30.11.2002
Dr Bertil Remaeus is the Swedish government representative and leader of the goverment group on the Agency’s Board. He takes over from Mr Luis Lopes, the Portuguese workers’ representative. Commenting on his appointment, Dr Remaeus said: “I am very proud to have been entrusted with this responsibility by my colleagues on the Board. The recent publication of the first European Community Strategy on Health and Safety at Work in over a decade makes this a particularly exciting time to take over the reins. The Agency’s work programme for 2003, which the Board has just agreed, marks a significant
Dr Bertil Remaeus is the Swedish government representative and leader of the goverment group on the Agency’s Board. He takes over from Mr Luis Lopes, the Portuguese workers’ representative.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Remaeus said: “I am very proud to have been entrusted with this responsibility by my colleagues on the Board. The recent publication of the first European Community Strategy on Health and Safety at Work in over a decade makes this a particularly exciting time to take over the reins. The Agency’s work programme for 2003, which the Board has just agreed, marks a significant step towards converting that strategy into real advances in safety and health in Europe’s workplaces. We plan to build on the success of this year’s campaign against occupational stress by widening our aim to cover other important workplace risks such as dangerous substances and risk sectors such as fisheries. And we’re particularly looking forward to the even greater participation of EEA and EU candidate countries in many of the Agency’s activities.”
Dangerous substances, fishing, and emerging risks – amongst the priorities for 2003
The Agency’s work programme for 2003 will focus on developing the Agency’s information services in line with the priorities set out in the Community Strategy for Health and Safety at Work. Besides dangerous substances and the fishing sector a special web feature will be set up on safety and health and disability as part of the European Year of the Disabled. The Administrative Board has also approved the setting up of an observatory for new and emerging risks at the workplace and to start preparatory work for the 2004 European Week campaign, which will focus on the construction sector.
Commenting on the outcome of the Board meeting, the Director of the European Agency, Mr Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, said: “I am very happy to welcome Bertil Remaeus as Chairperson of the Agency and look forward to working closely with him in promoting the Agency’s health and safety activities in 2003. A key activity will be the European Week on dangerous substances, which represent a vast area of potential health risks in all sectors. The negative impact on workers health includes asthma and dermatitis, cancer, damage to an unborn child and a variety of negative influences on the well-being of the workers, such as effects on lungs, skin, intestines, nervous and immune systems etc. The European Week 2003 aims at tackling this persistent problem by increasing awareness of the risks and of ensuring that dangerous substances are, whenever possible, substituted for safer alternatives or if that’s not possible always handled with care.”
END
Further information
Press contacts: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Andrew Smith, Tel: +34 94 479 5733 email: smith@osha.europa.eu, or Eke Heetveld, Tel: +34 94 479 43 86 email: heetveld@osha.europa.eu
Other enquiries: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain, email: information@osha.europa.eu, fax: +34 94 479 4383
Notes to editors
1.The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.
2.Bertil Remaeus, MSc, Dr.Tech.was Director of Supervision at the Swedish National Board of Occupational Safety and Health 1991-1995, and is since then Deputy Director-General at the same authority, from January 1 2 001 called the Swedish Work Environment Authority.
He has been with the authority since 1974 where he, inter alia, has held the positions of Director of Education, Head of the Inorganic Chemistry Section and Head of the Chemistry Division. Dr Remaeus is a metallurgist and materials technologist. Before joining the Board he did research at the Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, between 1970 and 1974. In the years 1985-1989 he worked as Expert Technical Adviser at the Ministry of Labour.
Dr Remaeus is a Board Member of the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority and the Institute of Environmental Medicine. He is also chair of the Board of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, and is a member of the Advisory Committee of the European Commission, as well as a member of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee, SLIC.
