The “Problems and Solution Proposals in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety in Turkey” symposium, organized for the 6th time this year, was held at Üsküdar Üniversitesi in cooperation with MESKA Foundation, TRIOMOBIL, and ÜSGÜMER. The topic of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization Applications in Occupational Health and Safety’, along with the problems and solution proposals in the field, were discussed with the participation of important figures. Speaking at the program, where the recent Bartın mine explosion was also brought up, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that our success in crisis resolution should also be demonstrated in crisis prevention, underlining the necessity of applying the digital system established in healthcare to mining as well.
Necessity of a digital system in mining emphasized…
Üsküdar Üniversitesi hosted the “Problems and Solution Proposals in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety in Turkey” symposium, held in cooperation with MESKA Foundation, TRIOMOBIL, and ÜSGÜMER.
The opening speeches of the symposium were delivered by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin, Head of Occupational Health and Safety Department Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan, Ministry of Labor and Social Security (ÇSGB) Deputy General Director of Occupational Health and Safety Levent Kenan Kibar, and TRIO Mobil CEO Nevzat Ataklı.
Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan: “The massive losses resulting from occupational accidents must be prevented”
First to speak during the opening remarks was Dr. Lecturer Rüştü Uçan, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences. Uçan said: “In our country, there is a significant lack of knowledge and deficiencies in the field of occupational health and safety, which consequently leads to a lack of precautions and problems. As MESKA Foundation, TRIO Mobil, and Üsküdar Üniversitesi, this symposium aimed to contribute to understanding the dangers and problems in the field of occupational health and safety in our country and to address our shortcomings with solution proposals. The lives and health of our employees must be protected. The enormous losses resulting from occupational accidents that affect our developing national economy must be prevented. Important duties fall upon all segments of society in this regard, especially our universities and education system. A healthier Occupational Health and Safety environment can be established through studies on digitalization and artificial intelligence. For this purpose, we brought together companies and academicians working in this field at this symposium. The participation and support of the Deputy General Director from our Ministry of Labor and our colleague working on artificial intelligence gave us strength. I believe that greater successes can be achieved in a shorter time through collaboration.”
Nevzat Ataklı: “Our aim is to offer people a safer working environment than their homes”
TRIO Mobil CEO Nevzat Ataklı then took the stage and stated that, according to the Social Security Institution's 2021 occupational statistics, an average of 5,500 people worldwide lose their lives daily due to occupational accidents and diseases. Ataklı said: “The fact that approximately 4 people die every minute as a result of these accidents can actually be reduced, and this will be possible through work with artificial intelligence. Our aim is to offer people a safer working environment than their homes. Preventing occupational accidents is possible with the right technologies, and we hope that everyone can return to their families safely from work.”
Levent Kenan Kibar: “Occupational health and safety concerns everyone in society”
ÇSGB Deputy General Director of Occupational Health and Safety Levent Kenan Kibar discussed occupational accidents as a global issue. Kibar said: “The issue of occupational health and safety is not just a concern for workplaces and employees, but for everyone in society. Work is being done in the international field of occupational health and safety. In our country, with the support of our President, an occupational safety law, which many countries do not have, has been enacted to protect employees and healthcare workers. Efforts are continuing in all areas of society. Collaborations are being carried out with universities and the Ministry of National Education to develop an occupational health and safety culture. Work on curricula in primary, secondary, and high schools is also ongoing. Discussions are also being held with other ministries, including the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. The students of occupational health and safety departments in universities also have a great responsibility in their working lives.”
Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin: “As healthcare professionals, what hurts us most are preventable human losses and preventable diseases”
Following this, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin spoke within the scope of the opening speeches, drawing attention to the fact that occupational health and safety enters our lives from a very young age. Ertekin said: “Occupational health and safety actually takes up a significant amount of time in our lives. Most of us start kindergarten in our three or six-year-old years. In fact, occupational health and safety begins to enter our lives there. Considering that human life extends to the 70s and 80s today, occupational health and safety provides an important activity in our lives for almost 70 years. As healthcare professionals, the issues that hurt us most are preventable human losses and preventable diseases. If only we had the means to eliminate all preventable accidents and diseases. Artificial intelligence is also used very intensively in the healthcare sector, and I believe it will make very significant contributions to the occupational health sector as well. Our government provides the necessary support, and it is extremely important for the academic community to contribute to society, countries, and humanity.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “We must demonstrate our success in crisis resolution in crisis prevention as well”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan spoke about how the word crisis in psychology contains two meanings, threat and opportunity, and continued his words as follows:
“Criticism is very important. We must self-criticize regarding the recent mine explosion in Bartın. It is a requirement of our culture that we advance with knowledge, not with oppression. For example, we created a very good healthcare system; our Deputy Minister of Health launched the E-Nabız application in the 2005s. Within that established system, it is now possible to track which pharmacy supplied which medicine to where. SGK tracks all of it, and despite the increasing public demand, the healthcare system has accelerated greatly thanks to digitalization. When the Soma incidents happened, we should have implemented this digitalization in the mining sector as well, but we didn't then. Therefore, our ministry must certainly conduct a self-criticism on this issue. In psychology, the word crisis has two meanings. One meaning of the word crisis is threat, danger, and the other is opportunity. In the recent Bartın incident, officials and state administrators are resolving this crisis in the best possible way. They are helping and supporting all families. So, we are very successful in crisis resolution, but we also need to show the same success in crisis prevention. A digital system needs to be established in coal mines that monitors like a clock which pressure changes in gas and where methane gas accumulates. If this system is established and works, an occupational health and safety expert cannot make a mistake when there is a problem. The digital tracking system also minimizes human errors.”
Tarhan: “Distance learning for OHS education is not possible!”
In his speech, Tarhan added that associate and bachelor's degrees in Occupational Health and Safety cannot be given through distance education in universities, and that OHS education without practical application is impossible.
After the completion of the opening speeches at the symposium, where plaques were also presented, sessions were held simultaneously in different halls, chaired by TRIO Mobil Strategic Customers Group Manager Özlem Çaltı, TRIO Mobil Customers Group Manager Neslihan Ataklı, Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Medicine Dean Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, Medeniyet Üniversitesi Head of Physics Engineering Department Prof. Dr. Emine Can, IMM OHS Manager Dr. Lecturer Özkan Kaan Karadağ, and Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences Vice Dean Dr. Lecturer Nuri Bingöl. Many academics who are experts in the field participated in the symposium, which was organized in the form of sessions, and shared their ongoing work in the field of occupational health and safety.