7 DGUV member met virtually with 3 MEM, 6 IIEM and 3 IECC participants.
On 19 May 2022, the DGUV and IIEM organized the second important Kick-Off of this project: the Occupational Safety pilot. Again, the DGUV technical team attended the meeting, this time with representatives from both the IIEM and the IECC, as well as two representatives from the MEM as the overarching authority. Different to the meeting with NIOHP, where the enumerators (the staff that conduct the survey and collect the data) attended the meeting, the meeting with the OS partners consisted solely of officials and hence focused on the regulatory framework of the project rather than the technical aspects.
The meeting commenced with some introductory remarks by Liu Wenge, Vice President of IIEM, and Dr. Gregor Kemper, Director of International Relations at DGUV, commending the cooperation of the two organizations and initiating the kick-off by outlining the progress made so far. The technical team then explained the organizational details of the project, the goals and aspects of the ESAW methodology as the basis for the methodology that is to be developed together with the IIEM as well as the different organs of the project such as the Advisory Board, and IIEM introduced the technical infrastructure of the project (i.e. the data tool).
The discussion about the data tool was especially productive, as the specific functionality of it has direct implications for the project, as DGUV Senior Statistician Dr. Kristina Meier commented. The DGUV representatives were particularly impressed with the detailed training material already developed by IIEM. Yuan Yan, Energy and Safety Division representative at IIEM, presented all details which the data collecting staff will need to know, from involved institutions to technical details of the methodology, data collection details, definitions, to hints and tips on using ESAW.
IIEM’s questions asked to DGUV during the meeting also showed a deep examination of ESAW. IIEM asked pointed questions about certain definitions and specific options for filling out. The DGUV Senior Statistician Dr. Kristina Meier and head of the International department Dr. Gregor Kemper answered all questions faithfully, pointing out that the methodology is supposed to help the Chinese partners reach their goals in terms of Occupational Safety and Prevention, so the specific implementation should adhere to the Chinese context.
Of course, the potential looming effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could not be ignored. The inability of enterprises to keep up their general productivity also means that we should expect fewer accidents to be reported. To best manage this, DGUV Project Manager Wang Yi will maintain regular contact to the involved local authorities.
The meeting ended with next steps moving forward in this project, and all parties thanked the organizers for this opportunity and look forward to the future cooperation.
