On 25 October 2023, EU-OSHA participated at the conference organised by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of North Macedonia (Focal point) aimed at raise awareness on the OSH risks related to digitalisation as well as to officially kick-off the HWC 2023-2025.

Representatives from the government, social partners and the international community took an active involvement in the event, and all underlined the importance of OSH risks prevention in workplaces, especially with regard to risks connected to digitalisation. 

The conference had also the aim to launch the HWC 2023-2025 “Safe and healthy work in the digital age“. In that respect, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Ms Jovanka Trenchevska, reiterated the commitment by the national institutions to enhance a deep culture of OSH risks prevention in workplaces, throughout North Macedonia. The Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation, Mr Steffen Hudolin, underlined the importance to fully implement the OSH legislation in the perspective of the EU accession process. Remarkable interventions were delivered by the president of the Federation of Trade Unions and the president of the Organisation of Employers.

Afterwards, national companies implementing the best OSH systems were awarded by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

Finally, the last part of the event offered a in-depth awareness of OSH risks related to digitalisation. EU-OSHA introduced the main aim of the HWC 2023-2025 and made specific reference to OSH psychosocial risks data referring to workplaces in North Macedonia collected and elaborated by the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) of 2019. Important interventions by Maja Anachkova, from the Mechanical Engineering Faculty of the University “St Cyril and Methodius”, Maja Panajotovic Radevska, from the Occupational Medicine Institute and part of SEENWH, Katsiaryna Marozava, from the Italian Association on Environment and Safety (AIAS) and member of the European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organisations (ENSHPO), and Borche Stojchevski, from the OSH NGO Tutela concluded the event.