The HSEC workshops by INERCO analyse the key points for the immediate future in Colombia

In September, INERCO held a series of annual technical workshops that this year are centred on HSEC management with regards to the new post-conflict situation in Colombia. A full panel of national and international experts drew up their vision of the immediate future for the country in the areas of industrial security and health at work, environmental licensing or challenges of the size of the admittance of Colombia into the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCDE), the Green Growth strategy and the fulfilment of the Paris Accord on Climate Change.

This seventh edition of the HSEC workshops of INERCO Colombia addressed the important challenges which Colombian society will face in the next few years from the business point of view as well as the social and environmental. The event had an attendance of 100 people and/or 70 companies from different economic sectors of the country, with a 96% satisfaction rate.

As Laura Fernández Baco, general manager of INERCO Colombia points out, “the new contextual framework which is created, as well as the possible admittance of Colombia to the OCDE, require a critical analysis of the new requirements and strategic plans that will mark the course of the next few years in terms of HSEC in Colombia. This is why these workshops continue to be of great use for the economic and social agents of the country.”

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

The first block that was dealt with revolved around the challenges of admittance into the OCDE in terms of industrial security and health at work, two working fronts for the definition and the development of guidelines oriented towards the reduction of the risk associated with the use of chemical substances during their whole life cycle. This will be carried out through the Chemical Substances of Industrial Use Management Programme (PGSQUI) and the Programme for the Prevention of Serious Accidents (PPAM). In this block, representatives from the National Business Association of Colombia – ANDI, the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Ecopetrol, Brinsa and

INERCO Colombia analysed what changes said obligations would involve in terms of Authority and for the industrial sector, sharing national as well as international experiences that will help to distinguish the challenges that the country faces.

THE ENVIRONMENT

In the environmental part, the speakers -from the Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the National Business Association of Colombia – ANDI, the National Authority of Environmental Licences – ANLA and TAU Environmental Consulting – examined the environmental requirements of entry into the OCDE that, among other issues, imply expanding the demand of the licensing procedure to some productive sectors or the exploratory stages of natural resources, the consideration of the policies and regulatory developments that the strategy of Green Growth proposed in the National Development Plan involves and the possibilities that arise in terms of environmental participation by the private sectors in the post-conflict context are landmarks that mark routes and challenges for environmental management in Colombia.

SOCIAL

The last block of the workshops entered into the social field, with a full analysis of the challenges for the State and businesses in the carrying out of programmes and projects in which new sources of employment and sustainable economic growth are created.

Representatives from the Ministry of Health, the National Department of Planning (DNP) and the Partner of Urban Economy and the State Council analysed the main opportunities and socio-environmental challenges that these issues present from the perspective of the legal and executive branches of the State and the contribution that the private sector could generate as a driver of development and national competitivity.