OSH Training

C2 - "2nd Joint Staff Training-Testing Course 2” / 16th - 21st of May 2017 / Athens, Greece

Between 16^th and 21^st of May 2017 it took place the "2nd Joint Staff Training-Testing Course 2” – C2,, at Golden Age Hotel, in Athens, Greece, organized with the support of PROLEPSIS.

The beneficiaries of this course were AGROSH+ partners’ staff who are currently involved in developing the training materials for the future training course dedicated to occupational medicine physicians to be organized in September 2017 in Bucharest/Romania.

The participants were occupational medicine physicians, psychologists, OSH experts, researchers in the field of public health and Agriculture and Food Science.

“Joint Staff Training Event” - definition

 Joint staff training events allow the participating organizations in the Strategic Partnership to organize short training events for education and training staff or youth workers linked to the topic or scope of the Strategic Partnership. They can have various formats, i.e. study visits combining on-site visits to relevant organizations, presentations, discussion workshops, training courses, etc.

Activities performed during the training course:

1. Organizing a 6 day face-to-face training in the field of Occupational Medicine for AGROSH+ Partners’ staff who are involved in providing training courses to occupational medicine physicians;
2. Testing an e-learning platform to be further used in the AGROSH+ project for the "Implementation Course 2-Occupational Medicine for Agriculture" (Romania, September 2017);
3. Providing support for the future training course "Course 2-Occupational Medicine for Agriculture" (Romania, September 2017) by testing its materials and getting feedback for them.

Modules:

 For 6 full days, various topics related to Occupational medicine were addressed:

• Module 1 - Agriculture and Work / Occupational Health / Workplace Health Promotion;
• Module 2 - Economic sub-sectors of agriculture;
• Module 3 - Occupational risks and risk assessment in Agriculture;
• Module 4 - Work related accidents in Agriculture;
• Module 5 - Occupational diseases in Agriculture – statistics in the countries of the project;
• Module 6 - Skin diseases for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 7 - Respiratory diseases for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 8 - Cardiovascular diseases for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 9 - Extreme temperatures in Agriculture - health challenges;
• Module 10 - Infectious diseases for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 11 - Musculoskeletal diseases for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 12 - Mental Health disorders for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 13 - Diseases of the eyes and ENT (ear-nose-throat) for employees working in Agriculture;
• Module 14 - Chemical substances & Poisoning & Toxicology in Agriculture;
• Module 15 - Vulnerable groups working in agriculture (seasonal workers, part time workers, women, child labor, self-supporting households & farming, etc.);
• Module 16 - Occupational cancer - practical aspects;

Each module was presented, discussed, analyzed (in terms of applicability & relevance for the agriculture sector), and received feedback and recommendations form the participants.

The training materials were composed of academic presentations (which were tested for their clarity, amount of information conveyed, length, relevance and applicability for the agriculture sector), case studies, individual and collective exercises, glossary.

All the general & specific recommendations and suggestions for the modules have been formulated individually expert per expert, and they are to be enforced by each responsible expert. Project partners are also responsible for the experts they are coordinating, either as the employer of the expert or as its beneficiary of expert’s voluntary services.

For the AGROSH+ e-learning platform, which is already online, there were presented and discussed the registration details and access to the platform, its structure Module per Module (and especially the components for each one of the Modules namely manual, PowerPoint presentation, glossary, resources). A longer period of time was also dedicated to the evaluation instruments and methodology to be pursued for the evaluation of the trainees. Many recommendations have been formulated, which will be taken into account till the implementation of the „Course 2-Occupational Medicine for Agriculture" (Romania, September 2017).

During there have been presented and discussed also the relevant agriculture and OSH and occupational medicine resources purchased. These are going to be made available to the trainees and they are as follows:

1. Agricultural Medcine, Kelley J. Donham and Anders Thelin, 2016;
2. Occupational Health & Safety, Marci Z. Balge and Gary R. Krieger, 2000;
3. Environmental Health, Howard Frumkin, 2010;
4. Occupational & Environmental Medicine, Joseph Ladou, 2006;
5. Environmental and Occupational Medicine, William N. Rom, 2007;
6. Risk Assessment for Environmental Health, Mark G. Robson and William A. Toscano, 2007;
7. A Physician’s Guide to Return to Work, James B. Talmage and J. Mark Melhorn, 2005;
8. Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety – Volume I-IV, Janne Mager Stellman; 1998