The 9th Symposium on Problems and Solution Proposals in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety in Türkiye, themed “Innovative Trainings and Practices that Develop a Safety Culture in Workplaces,” was held under the hosting of Üsküdar University.
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Üsküdar University, Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin, said, “Despite all this technological development, we are still losing people due to occupational accidents. All of these are preventable deaths.”
Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar University, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan, stated, “Early warning systems related to earthquake fault lines are also among today’s topics. It is possible to provide early warnings 15 to 30 seconds in advance. This has not yet been implemented in residential buildings in Türkiye and needs to be implemented urgently.”
Deputy Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar University and Symposium Coordinator, Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur, said, “I believe that the field of occupational health and safety, which has completed its first generation, will reach much more advanced levels in the second and third generations.”
Held with the main theme “Innovative Trainings and Practices that Develop a Safety Culture in Workplaces,” the 9th Symposium on Problems and Solution Proposals in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety in Türkiye was hosted by Üsküdar University.
The symposium, held at the Ibn Sina Conference Hall at the NP Health Campus of Üsküdar University, brought together academics, representatives from the public and private sectors, occupational safety experts, and industry professionals. The event addressed many topics such as the prevention of occupational accidents, strengthening corporate safety culture, psychosocial risks, digitalization, and occupational health and safety practices in the mining and construction sectors.
The opening speeches were delivered by Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur, Deputy Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department and Symposium Coordinator, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department, Director of ÜSGÜMER and President of the MESKA Foundation, and Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin: “Occupational Health and Safety is one of the most important issues in our country”
Prof. Arif Aktuğ Ertekin emphasized that occupational health and safety is one of the most important social issues in Türkiye and underlined that creating a culture in this field requires continuity and sustainability.
“Occupational Health and Safety is one of the most important issues in our country. Continuity and sustainability are extremely important in creating a culture in a society,” said Prof. Ertekin, adding that the academic process in the field of occupational health and safety at Üsküdar University has progressed steadily over the years.
Prof. Ertekin stated, “We started the undergraduate program in the 2012 to 2013 academic years, and today we are holding the ninth symposium. This shows that the concept has been adopted and has turned into an institutional culture.”
More than 700,000 occupational accidents occurred in 2024
Sharing up to date statistics on occupational accidents, Prof. Ertekin said, “These are preventable deaths. I looked at the statistics; including November 2025, the number of deaths due to occupational accidents is around 1,900. December has not yet been announced, but based on the average, it means more than 2,100 deaths occurred. The previous year, this number was around 1,800. Unfortunately, despite all this technological development, people are still dying due to occupational accidents.”
Stating that more than 700,000 occupational accidents occurred in 2024, Prof. Ertekin pointed out that among those who lost their lives were child workers and migrant workers.
“Among these deaths, there are approximately 70 child workers and more than 90 migrant workers,” said Prof. Ertekin, noting that when unregistered workers are taken into account, the real figures may be far higher than the reported data. He added, “When we consider unregistered employment, the real picture may unfortunately be much more severe.”
Emphasizing that the majority of occupational accidents are preventable, Prof. Ertekin stated that the continuation of loss of life despite technological advances is concerning. “Despite all this technological development, we are still losing people due to occupational accidents. All of these are preventable deaths,” he said, stressing that occupational health and safety must be embraced much more strongly by all segments of society.
Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan: “The first one was organized together with Yıldız Technical University after the Soma disaster”
Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan, Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar University, emphasized the vital importance of sustainable academic studies in the field of occupational health and safety and early involvement in standard development processes.
Addressing the participants, Asst. Prof. Uçan said, “We are holding the ninth symposium. The first one was organized together with Yıldız Technical University after the Soma disaster. Nearly ten years have passed since then, and we have never abandoned these efforts.”
The symposium turned into a lasting academic output
Pointing out that the symposium has turned into a lasting academic output, Asst. Prof. Uçan said, “The first event was also published as a book, and this e book was downloaded more than 170,000 times. This made it the second most followed book of Yıldız Technical University. The first place was held by the Physics Laboratory book.”
Emphasizing that they come together with industry representatives regularly every year, Asst. Prof. Uçan stated that this approach creates a mutual evaluation process.
Asst. Prof. Uçan said, “At these events, we tried to follow what companies think in this field and what kind of developments they have achieved. Every year, we invite around 8 to 10 companies, assign them different topics, and try to see what they are doing. This process enables both them and us to evaluate ourselves and ask questions such as ‘Were we successful this year?’ and ‘What are our shortcomings?’”
“We will organize a workshop on robotics for the first time in Türkiye”
Referring to an important institutional development this year, Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan announced that he has joined the Mirror Committee of the Turkish Standards Institution and said, “This committee focuses on robotics. For the first time in Türkiye, we will organize a workshop between 15 and 17 April. Together with experts from around the world, we will try to ensure that a standard is developed in Türkiye. Being involved in the process while standards are still in the preparation stage and shaping them in line with our own needs is extremely important.”
Stating that they are also active in the media to ensure that occupational health and safety issues are addressed correctly in public opinion, Asst. Prof. Uçan said, “In an explosion that occurred in a 14 storey building in Beylikdüzü, people wrote in WhatsApp groups saying ‘there is a gas smell,’ and later said ‘the smell has increased.’ However, intervention took place only nine hours after the explosion, and unfortunately one person lost their life. Instead of WhatsApp warnings, we need technical precautions.”
Emphasizing the importance of making natural gas detectors and automatic gas shut off systems mandatory, Asst. Prof. Uçan also stated that earthquake early warning systems are of vital importance.
Earthquake early warning systems are extremely critical
“Early warning systems related to earthquake fault lines are also among today’s topics. It is possible to provide early warnings 15 to 30 seconds in advance. This has not yet been implemented in residential buildings in Türkiye and needs to be implemented urgently,” said Asst. Prof. Uçan. He continued, “I have now started my second doctoral program. We are working on how early warning systems can be implemented in one of Türkiye’s largest foundry factories. If measures such as preventing ladles from tipping over, cutting off electricity, or activating generators can be taken within 30 to 60 seconds during an earthquake, major fires and loss of life can be prevented.”
Referring to Üsküdar University’s mission of producing and disseminating knowledge, Asst. Prof. Uçan stated that approximately 10 free e books have been published to date and concluded by saying, “Now we are publishing our book on robotics as an e book. The book has been translated into English, and one of our students is also translating it into Persian. We are doing everything we can to be useful.”
Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur: “This year, we aimed to organize a symposium themed ‘safety culture’”
Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur, Deputy Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar University and Symposium Coordinator, emphasized that values lie at the core of safety culture and stated that this approach determined the main theme of the symposium.
Stating that there is a direct relationship between the basic needs of human life and safety culture, Asst. Prof. Temur said, “Values such as shelter and nutrition, which are included in the hierarchy of needs for humans to sustain their lineage, are also extremely important factors for the sustainability of safety culture.”
Explaining that the main theme of the symposium was determined in line with this approach, Asst. Prof. Temur said, “For these reasons, we aimed to organize a symposium themed ‘safety culture’ this year.”
Drawing attention to the importance of intergenerational development, Asst. Prof. Temur concluded by saying, “I would like to end with the words of a professor I greatly admire: ‘We can talk about development as long as the next generation is better than the previous one.’”
Emphasizing the development process of the field of occupational health and safety, Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur stated, “I believe that the field of occupational health and safety, which has almost completed its first generation, will reach much more advanced levels in the second and third generations.”
2017 graduates reunited at the symposium
The first graduates of 2017 from the Occupational Health and Safety Department of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Üsküdar University reunited at the 9th Symposium on Problems and Solution Proposals in the Field of Occupational Health and Safety in Türkiye.
Dr. Ahmet Ebrar Sakallı, who works as an A Class Occupational Safety Expert at Turkish Airlines, and Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur, Deputy Head of the Occupational Health and Safety Department at Üsküdar University, attracted attention with both their academic and professional careers.
Dr. Ahmet Ebrar Sakallı and Asst. Prof. Sertaç Temur are among the first individuals to receive diplomas at all three levels, undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral, in the field of occupational health and safety. This achievement once again highlighted Üsküdar University’s pioneering position in occupational health and safety and its vision of training qualified human resources.
What took place at the symposium?
The first session of the symposium was held under the chairmanship of Prof. Haydar Sur. In this session, Selimcan Menemencioğlu, Occupational Health and Safety Manager at Shell Türkiye, delivered a presentation titled “The First Step Is Not Starting the Job.” Meksut Alev, HSE Coordinator at Soletanche Bachy, presented “Taking Root Cause Analysis One Step Further: Corporate Psychosocial Root Cause Analysis and the Digital Face of Occupational Health and Safety in Construction.” Yılmaz Sonışık from EDİS delivered a presentation titled “Marmara Region Earthquake Early Warning System,” and Mehmet Osmanoğlu, Safety, Environment, and Health Manager at Gümüştaş Mining, presented “A Helmet Fastened to the Future: Building a Sustainable Culture in Mining.”
The second session, which began after the lunch break, was chaired by Asst. Prof. Rüştü Uçan from Üsküdar University. Yasin Öztürk, Chief Engineer at Çayeli Bakır Enterprises, delivered a presentation titled “THINK! SAFETY.” Ahmet Ebrar Sakallı, A Class Occupational Safety Expert at Turkish Airlines, presented “Employee Focused Human Resources Practices,” and Hasan Çelebi delivered a presentation titled “MULTITEK.”
The third and final session of the day was chaired by Associate Professor Müge Ensari Özay. Ali Rıza Tiryaki from Artı Consultancy, Osman Sayar, President of İSGDER, presented “Problems Experienced by Occupational Safety Experts,” and Ekrem Bayrak from Prosense delivered a presentation titled “An Evaluation of Sensor Selection in Gas Detection Systems in Terms of Risk Assessment.” The symposium concluded with a closing speech following the evaluations.
During the preparation and implementation of the symposium, Research Assistant Ender Sezen, along with undergraduate and associate degree students of the Occupational Health and Safety programs and members of the Scenario Based Occupational Health and Safety Student Club, actively contributed to the organization and provided significant support.
The symposium, which lasts two days, continues with its second day held on Saturday, 10 January 2026, via an online platform.
