Lights! Camera! Film Award nominations place spotlight on the need for safer workplaces

From the pressures experienced by today’s nannies and waitresses to an exploration of new stress-related conditions, the effects that the changing world of work has on us all are on display in the seven films which are competing for this year’s film award. Nominations come from the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden, Brazil and Canada.

EU-OSHA Director Jukka Takala said that ”the hazards that these films explore, including the rise in psychosocial risks in a globalised economy, show why it is so important for us to work for safer, healthier and more productive workplaces in Europe.”

The films, including Wadans Welt by Dieter Schumann about an East German shipyard in times of crisis and Bombay X-Ray by Ryszard Solarz about an Indian labourer whose lungs are destroyed by exposure to exhaust gasses, explore questions such as what are the physical and psychosocial outcomes of the economic transition and how are workers’ health and safety affected by a globalised economy.

Dish by Maya Gallus explores the world of waitresses and how gender affects working conditions, while Thomas Kudrna’s All That Glitters is about unresolved deaths at a Kyrgyzstan goldmine owned by a Canadian company.

The films nominated for the Healthy Workplaces Film Award are picked from more than 2,000 documentaries submitted to DOK Leipzig this year. The winning film will be selected by an international jury which includes film and occupational health and safety experts and will be announced at an award ceremony in Leipzig on 23 October 2010.

More information on the award nominations, criteria and the jury at: http://osha.europa.eu/en/about/hw_film_award_2010

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Notes to editors

1. The mission of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is to make Europe a safer, healthier and more productive place to work. EU-OSHA 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, EU-OSHA 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.

Now you can follow us on Twitter, visit the Agency’s blog or subscribe to our monthly newsletter OSHmail. You can also register for regular news and information from EU-OSHA via RSS feed.

http://osha.europa.eu

2. Healthy Workplaces is the largest information campaign on occupational safety and health, running in all EU Member States and beyond to promote safe maintenance. Coordinated by EU-OSHA and its partners it supports a wide range of activities at the national and European level under the slogan “Healthy Workplaces. Good for you. Good for business”. http://hw.osha.europa.eu

3. DOK Leipzig, the largest German and second largest European documentary film festival will start its 53rd issue with an exciting program and attractive offers in its individual sections. True to its tradition as the “Window to the World“, the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film again presents the best and latest animated and documentary films to its audience between 18 - 24 October 2010. The award ceremony takes place on 23 October 2010 in Leipzig, Germany. http://www.dok-leipzig.de

Press inquiries

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• Brenda O’Brien - Brussels Liaison Office +32 2 401 68 59 | obrien@osha.europa.eu