End of Year Message from Martin Cottam, Chair, ISO/TC283, Occupational Health and Safety Management.
Dear Colleagues,
As the end of another year approaches, I want to thank you all for your continuing and dedicated support for the work of TC 283.
I’m very conscious that with Covid-19 still affecting our lives, and many other challenges impacting our world, there has felt to be little respite, and this makes all the more impressive the commitment and effort which members devote to advancing our work.
And the results speak for themselves, with ISO 45002 now at FDIS ballot and due for publication early next year, ISO 45006 at DIS ballot, and considerable recent progress with ISO 45004, one of our more challenging projects, which is also now being prepared for DIS. Alongside this, our task groups have also been hard at work, including the establishment of a new task group TG7 to focus on the needs of small and micro-organizations.
As discussed at plenary we also have in prospect formation of a new group to focus on the effects of the global climate emergency on OH&S management, and work to explore the OH&S needs of workers in non-traditional businesses such as Uber, Bolt, AirBnB.
Our efforts to engage non-participating countries in our work have also continued to make progress, in particular the establishment of the regional consultative network in Latin America, the series of events organized in the Caribbean, and preparations to relaunch and develop our Developing Countries Coordination Group (DCCG).
I thank colleagues in CAG, our extended leadership team, for their efforts in organizing and leading these activities, and I thank all of you for giving them your support and participating in the work. I hope that you were as gratified and delighted as I was to see our collective efforts recognised by ISO via the prestigious “Lawrence D. Eicher” Award 2022 – a real achievement for a committee only established in 2018.
Of course, Sally has been central to the establishment of TC 283, and has made an immense contribution to our work, so it is with sadness that we say farewell to her as our committee manager. Personally, I am deeply grateful for everything that she has contributed to the committee, and the support she has given me, and I know you will feel the same. So we now look forward to working with her in her new capacity as our ISO technical programme manager. We also look forward to welcoming our new committee manager when an appointment is confirmed; I know you will join me in giving them your full support as they transition into the role.
The Lawrence D Eicher award reinforces my conviction that our committee is on a good trajectory, with so much potential to further help organizations across the world improve their OH&S performance. I hope you feel similarly motivated by what we are achieving together, and that we can look forward to your continued support in 2023. In the meantime, my thanks again for all your efforts, and I hope the festive season provides you with some opportunity to relax and unwind after a busy year.
With my best wishes,
Martin Cottam
Chair, ISO/TC283, Occupational Health and Safety Management.