The ASEM Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Symposium on Developing a Preventive OSH Culture will be held in Singapore from 10 to 11 September 2012. This symposium, co-organised by France, Singapore and the European Commission, was an outcome of the 3rd Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Labour and Employment Minister’s Conference  that was held in Leiden, Netherlands from 12 to 14 December 2010 under the Leiden Declaration and "Leiden Framework of Action".

The theme for the symposium will be implementing OSH within companies through the development of a Preventive OSH Culture – including with a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs). To drive sustainable improvements of OSH, OSH Strategies need to focus on developing a preventive OSH culture. There is a strong need to promote awareness that a good OSH performance improves the well-being of workers and has a positive impact on productivity, employability and competitiveness.

The symposium will feature sharing and discussions with public and private sector representatives from ASEM partner countries on the development and implementation of OSH Strategies to create a strong preventive OSH culture. There will also be a focus on efforts of SMEs in this regard.