Stories from the field – Japan

JAPAN | Strengthening occupational health and safety during the pandemic

1 February 2022

Online courses aimed at safeguarding occupational health during the COVID-19 pandemic are available in Japanese on OpenWHO.org thanks to collaboration between the WHO Collaborating Centres for Occupational Health in Japan, the Occupational and Workplace Health Programme at WHO Headquarters and the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

The 2 free courses, which address COVID-19 and work and occupational health and safety for health workers, were translated into Japanese by 2 WHO collaborating centres for occupational health that provide support to WHO’s global and regional activities to protect and promote the health of workers: the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan.

WHO collaborating centres for occupational health have reoriented their work in response to WHO’s call for action to support in the context of COVID-19. The Japanese online courses are being used for occupational health and safety education for employees in general workplaces, education of health care professionals when they engage in COVID-19 practice and basic training for newly hired occupational health staff. They were disseminated through the SANSUIKEN network of occupational health staff and academic researchers and used by members to develop educational programs in their workplaces, including hospitals.

“Currently, the ‘sixth wave’ of COVID-19 infection by the Omicron variant has spread throughout Japan. In this wave, a series of cases of infection have been reported even among vaccinated people. Therefore, there is renewed interest in the need for infection control measures in the workplace based on the principles of occupational health and safety, which are covered in the courses,” said Dr Tomohiro Ishimaru, Associate Professor for the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan.

A Japanese course on COVID-19 infection prevention and control has also been available on OpenWHO since March 2020.

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