HESME (Health, Environment & Safety Management in Enterprises)
Insofar as the integration process with the European Union is concerned, occupational health and safety problems, and the environmental ones have a great priority to be dissolved. HESME (Health, Environment & Safety Management in Enterprises) approach developed by the World Health Organisation is a multi-disciplinary approach aiming at the improvement of health and safety conditions of the enterprises, and reducing the negative effects of enterprises to a minimum degree over the environment. At the same time, HESME approach is also related to the protection of the general environment, the effects of the enterprises’ products over health and environment, and the protection of the nearby environs nearby the enterprises. While the conventional approach on occupational health and safety and environmental management limits these issues just with the boundaries of a workplace, HESME appropriates a broader approach involving production methods at workplaces and the studies on the negative effects of the products and waste products over environmental health.
- Mainly, the implementation of HESME program covers;
- The improvement and development of the working conditions;
- The improvement of job-related competencies;
- Reducing the occupational and job-related accidents and diseases;
- Reducing health expenditures;
- Motivational improvement of the employees;
- Increase in the employment rates;
- Increase in the number of enterprises that are capable of finding solutions to the environmental problems by means of adapting the rules and methods of various strategies, such as neat production, green productivity, prevention from pollution, and etc.
In order to make the determined objectives achieved, the specialists from different professions (from health, safety and labour economics) should play active roles in the employee-employer associations’ HESME practices. Also, this should be realised under the co-ordinative power of the official institutions and organisations.
With the concerns on accelerating the HESME studies, “HESME Education Train” program was prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. This program is both in order to introduce HESME and to raise public awareness beside attracting people’s attention on the occupational health and safety and environmental issues. HESME Education Train will depart from Ankara, and travel through Edirne and Kars. During this travel, it is expected that the universities, local governments, employee-employer associations and media will provide considerable contributions alongside the route of the train.
The activities realised throughout the travel can be summarises as follows:
- In-train HESME Education;
- Conferences, seminars and panels realised in the provinces alongside the route of the train;
- Studies on Turkey’s Risk-Profile regarding the occupational health and safety issues (visual presentations, exhibitions, activities on sample measurement and control).