One of the key principles of any contemporary public administration is to promote citizens’ economic and social wellbeing. This principle arises with the concept of welfare, which appeared at the middle of the XXth century as an answer to the model of non intervention -or ‘laissez faire’.

Among the common characteristics of the welfare state we can underline the establishment of Social Security, the enforcement of policies towards the equality of opportunity (such as free and compulsory education), an even income distribution, or an improved life quality for the less favoured. What is aimed, in short, is to provide support for citizens all along their vital cycle -in those areas in which this help is necessary.

The improvement of the quality of occupational life, and particularly of working conditions, fits well into this aim. To achieve it the European Union has adopted a self-regulated approach: to hold the employer responsible for ensuring the safety and health of his or her workers, through a systematic application of the general principles of prevention. The administration obviously promotes the prevention effort, provides advice, and exerts control functions. These actions are realized daily and, in the Galician community, they are carried out by the Department of Labour, but also by the Departments of Health and Innovation & Industry when concerned. About the inter-departmental actions, they are assured by the Department of Presidency, Public Administration and Justice.

Nevertheless, the key actor of prevention is the manager. Together with workers’ participation and technical support, it is the manager who has to assume his or her responsibilities by assigning the necessary resources to assess risks, make a planning, and put it into practice. And this, no matter the company size or the activity sector.

This responsibility becomes clear when realizing that, as Lord Robens puts it, “prevention of occupational risks is mainly a question of efficient management -not a prerogative of management… this is why workers’ participation is needed”. All European health and safety law is based on this concept, which is also valid for environmental risks. In this case workers’ collaboration relates to internal emergencies, while citizenship participation refers to external emergencies.

Both in occupational and environmental risks, the basic idea is that society’s goals in general and companies’ objectives in particular are interdependent: to succeed, companies need a healthy and safe society, full of natural resources; while society needs a robust and lasting business framework in order to achieve the wellbeing of its citizens and to preserve its resources.

In this interdependence the balance only can be achieved through responsibility and aiming at a sustainable development: to work with the persons, to look after their safety, not to harm their health, and to use natural resources rationally while preserving the environment. This responsibility is and has to be the centre of debate, study, and reflection.

For all this I am pleased to introduce the Sixth International Conference on Occupational Risk Prevention ORP’2008, which will be hold in A Coruña from May 14th to 16th, 2008. In this gathering, the motto of which is ‘Commitment towards prevention: a corporate responsibility’, we will have the opportunity to bring viewpoints closer, to debate and to exchange with technicians, scientists, and all those partners involved in these challenging issues.

The Galician autonomous government invites you to Coruña in order that we all together make this conference a guide, like a Tower of Hercules, which will help to achieve working conditions that are healthy, safe and sustainable.

José Luis Méndez Romeu
Department of Presidency, Public Administration and Justice
Galician autonomous government, Spain