Est-Fin Twinning on Occupational Health Services 2003-2004

Background

The Project is funded through the European Union’s Phare programme as part of the Estonian accession process into the European Union. It aims to support Estonia in meeting the requirements of the European Union regulations and recommendations.

Objective

The overall objective of the project is to reduce the incidence of work-related diseases in Estonia in the long run. The project will therefore help to increase the coverage of, the availability of, and the accessibility to occupational health services throughout Estonia. Increasing the employers’ and employees’ awareness of occupational health issues is also aimed at, to create an environment conducive to improved occupational health and safety. These attempts will support the practical implementation of the European Union regulations, particularly the Framework Directive 89/391/EEC and other relevant regulations and recommendations.

Twinning partners

The partners in the project are the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH). In addition, the Estonian Occupational Health Center (OHC) has a central role in the implementation of the project.

Key elements of the project

The project implementation is organized into six elements:

1. General
The aim of this element is to inform the relevant partners and stakeholders about the contents and objectives of the project, to follow up the progress of the project through the Steering Committee, and at the end of the project, to evaluate the progress made and the needs for future actions.

2. Policy and strategy
Through the policy and strategy element, the Ministry of Social Affairs and other relevant authorities will be supported in planning and implementing the Estonian Occupational Health Development Plan (until 2007) and MoSA’s strategy for Occupational Health and Safety for 2003–2007. The project also supports the collaboration between the occupational health and safety administration and the public health administration in the development of occupational health services, and the making of a comparative analysis of registered work injuries by sectors of the economy between Finland and Estonia.

3. Occupational health services (OHS)
This element aims at developing the infrastructure of the OHS to ensure better coverage and quality. The following actions are included: introducing occupational health guidelines in Estonia, developing the infrastructure of OHS service provision (including better collaboration with family physicians), developing indicators for evaluating the OHS situation, and assessing the occupational health and safety situation in agriculture.

4. Training on work-related diseases
Through this element, improvement of the diagnostics of occupational and other work-related diseases will be supported by offering training on occupational diseases to occupational health physicians, certain other specialized health personnel, and family physicians. This aim will also be supported by developing further the system for recognizing occupational diseases.

5. Networking
The element will support the work of the National Occupational Health and Safety Network. A subnetwork in agriculture will be established, and the work of the Tartu County Occupational Health and Safety Network will be supported. Model profiles on occupational health and safety at community, county and sectoral levels will be developed.

6. Information
Dissemination and management of information will constitute an integral part of each component. The information element aims at increasing the awareness of the stakeholders, defining information needs, producing guidelines and informative material, promoting the use of information, updating the Internet network strategy, and producing suitable material for Internet.