The World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health Meets for the First Time Ever

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	
June 4, 2001
Contact:Joe Larkin							(630) 775-2303


World Safety Congress Comes to the U.S. for the First Time

International Gathering of Safety and Health Experts to be Held in Orlando in 2005

	ITASCA, Illinois * The World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health will be held for the first time in the United States in 2005, the National Safety Council (NSC) announced today.

	The 17th World Safety Congress will be held in Orlando, Florida, in September 2005, just before the NSC*s annual Congress & Expo.  The World Congress, organized jointly by the United Nation*s International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Social Security Association (ISSA), is held every three years.  The 16th World Congress will be May 26-31, 2002, in Vienna, Austria.

	*The National Safety Council is thrilled and honored that the ILO and ISSA have accepted our invitation to host the 17th World Safety Congress,* said NSC President Alan C. McMillan.  *This influential gathering of the world*s foremost experts on occupational safety and health will mark the culmination of a number of cooperative activities over the next four years aimed at enhancing the safety and health of workers around the world.

	*Besides offering a unique forum for the international sharing of technical information and good safety and health practices,* McMillan said, *the 2005 World Congress will also provide an opportunity to celebrate the tremendous strides that have been made in occupational safety and health in the United States and throughout the world.*

	McMillan said the NSC and other U.S. organizations have been negotiating with the ILO and ISSA since 1999 to bring the World Congress to the United States.  The NSC*s offer to host the event was formally accepted by the ILO and ISSA in mid-May.

	*The National Safety Council will work closely with U.S. governmental, labor and management organizations and the World Congress* international organizers to conduct a variety of cutting-edge research, demonstration and information-sharing programs over the next four years,* McMillan said. *We will report on the results of those activities at the 2005 World Congress, and take advantage of this important forum to build on the programs already in place and to identify needs for additional work.


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	*Our ultimate goal,* McMillan said, *is to make the world*s workplaces as safe and healthy as possible for workers in every country and in every occupation.*

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