IOSH-led workshop to focus on wellbeing at Japan Expo

Last week, we introduced you to the four-day programme being organised by the Global Initiative on Safety Health and Wellbeing at Expo 2025, in Japan, from the 16-19 July. We also outlined the lead role of IOSH in directing a series of eight workshops on an action-packed opening day at the World Assembly, in Osaka.

We also focused on ‘Workshop 1: The Future of OSH within the Sustainability Agenda’, which is a good point to build from in giving you more of a flavour of how ‘sustainability’ will be a key theme of the overall programme.

As we experience a particularly fast-evolving world of work, the importance of wellbeing has become a given – it’s now more a question of how well organisations embed wellbeing into their culture, strategy and operational practice.

One of the opening afternoon sessions will tackle this critical issue head-on - ‘The Evolution of Human-Centric Work Places: Advancing Wellbeing in the Modern World of Work’ (Workshop 5). IOSH Thought Leadership Manager Dr Chris Davis, one of a diverse range of workshop speakers, will lead the delegates in reassessing wellbeing and its importance to the future of work. 

Key debate

The debate will focus on four key questions.

• Why is wellbeing a concern of business?
• What makes a good wellbeing programme and how can you measure its effectiveness?
• How do organisations learn from experience in the workplace and develop their wellbeing performance?
• How should wellbeing be integrated into an organisation’s operational systems?

Delegates will be asked to reflect on such issues as:

• embracing neurodiversity
• how to facilitate collaboration between different age groups in the workplace
• the need to manage new work patterns (such as shorter working weeks and remote working), and
• the role of leadership in establishing a well-functioning psychosocial work environment.

Clear benefits

For an increasing number of organisations, wellbeing has become very much a strategic issue. There are clear benefits such as better employee engagement, reduced worker absence, higher retention and greater organisational resilience. Wellbeing also acts as a marker of social value and responsible business. When people feel psychologically safe and secure, they can thrive.

This workshop promises to start a conversation about what it really means to create human-centric workplaces, places where the safety and health benefits of decent, sustainable work extend to psychological matters of inclusivity and flexibility.

Other aspects of sustainability will be touched on in the IOSH directed World Assembly programme, in ‘Workshop 2: The Future of Work and Workplaces: harnessing digitalisation for safety, health and wellbeing’ and ‘Workshop 3: Climate Change and the Future of Work.’