Background

The Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organization (APOSHO) is an international body composed of non- profit professional organizations dedicated to promote occupational safety and health practices in the Asia Pacific Region. The first APOSHO Annual Conference took place in Singapore in August 1985 and was chaired by the Chairman of the National Safety Council of Australia. Representatives from the Safety Councils of India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore attended and founded the Organization initially called the 占쏙옙Coordinating Committee of Asia Pacific National Safety Councils占쏙옙. In 1992, with the consensus of the Annual General Meeting, it was renamed the Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organization.

Article 1- Introduction

The Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organization (hereinafter referred to as 占쏙옙APOSHO占쏙옙) consists of memberships from the National Organizations/ Associations/ Societies in the Asia Pacific Region and beyond, engaged in activities related to the promotion and enhancement of occupational safety and health (OSH) practices.

The Asia Pacific Region is defined in the attached list.

Although full membership is given to non-government organization in the Asia Pacific Region, any occupational safety and health organization outside the Asia Pacific Region, may join APOSHO as an affiliate member.

Each Member Organization shall bear its own expenses for attending Annual General Meetings and Conferences organized by the hosting Member Organization.

Article 2 - Objectives

The objectives of "APOSHO" are as follows:

1. To promote mutual understanding and cooperation among the communities in the Asia Pacific Region in areas related to Occupational Safety and Health awareness and practices.

2. To contribute to the promotion and enhancement of Occupational Safety and Health awareness and practices among the communities in the Asia Pacific Region. 3. To promote networking and exchange of information on Occupational Safety and Health awareness and practices among the communities in the Asia Pacific Region.

Article 3 - Membership

APOSHO shall have four (4) categories of membership, namely Full Member, Associate Member, Affiliate Member and Honorary Member.

a) A Full Member An Organization / Association / Society based in the Asia Pacific Region which is an independent, non-government, non-profit and non-political organization, engaged mainly in promoting activities and programs related to Occupational Safety and Health practices, shall be eligible for full membership of APOSHO.

A Full Members shall have voting rights at the APOSHO Annual General Meeting.

b) An Associate Member IN case that no organization in the Asia Pacific region qualified for a) above in the said countries or areas, any governmental organization engaged in activities related to Occupational, Safety and Health in the said countries or areas may become a member of APOSHO as an Associate Member. 

An Associate Member shall not have voting rights at the APOSHO Annual General Meeting except for an organization in the country or area it represents does not have a Full Member.

An Affiliate Member within the Asia Pacific Region which has continuously demonstrated an active participation in APOSHO activities, may only apply to upgrade to Associate Member status.

c) An Affiliate Member A non-government organization  within or outside the Asia Pacific Region, which is engaged in activities related to the promotion of Occupational Safety and Health practices, shall be eligible for Affiliate Membership of APOSHO.

Affiliate Members shall not have voting rights at the APOSHO Annual General Meeting.

d)  An Honorary Member An Individual from a Full or Associate Member Organization in the Region, having voting rights, who has made outstanding and significant contribution to APOSHO, may be nominated by his organization for the Honorary Membership.

Such nomination shall be made in writing to the Secretary General of APOSHO.

An Honorary Member shall not have voting rights at the APOSHO Annual General Meeting.

Article 4 - Approval of Membership

a) An application for any category of membership shall be made in writing on prescribed forms and sent to the Secretary General of APOSHO three (3) months prior to the Annual General Meeting.  The Secretary General will process and forward the application to the Membership Screening Committee for evaluation and recommendation to the Annual General Meeting for consideration.

b) Approval or ratification of membership at the Annual General Meeting shall be based on consensus of members having voting right who are present at the Annual General Meeting.

Article 5 - Disqualification of Membership

A member of APOSHO who has failed to attend three (3) consecutive Annual General Meetings without reasonable justification, shall be requested by the Secretary General of APOSHO to explain in writing the reason(s) for the absence.

A decision shall then be made at the Annual General Meeting to determine the future status of the said Member.

Article 6 - The Chairperson

a) The Chairperson shall be elected from the Full Members or Associate Members having voting right at the Annual General Meeting by consensus.

b) The Chairperson占쏙옙s term of office shall be for the period till the next Annual General Meeting.

c) The Chairperson shall represent APOSHO and oversee its organization and overall operations of the APOSHO event during his term of office.

d) The Chairperson shall preside over the Annual General Meeting and report on APOSHO占쏙옙s activities during his/her term of office.

e) The Chairperson may invite observers to attend the Annual General Meeting.

Article 7 - Secretary General

Only an individual from a Member having voting right shall be eligible for nomination and election to the position of Secretary General at the Annual General Meeting.

The term of the Secretary General shall be for a period of two (2) consecutive Annual General Meetings.  Notwithstanding, the Annual General Meeting may extend the office of the Secretary General as it deems fit.

Article 7a - Duties and responsibilities of the Secretary General

The Secretary General shall be responsible for promoting, developing and fostering the activities and operation of APOSHO and inter alia, the following duties and responsibilities:

i)   Keep an updated list of the mailing addresses, faxes, e-mails, telephone numbers etc. of all the APOSHO members along with the names of their respective President / Chairman / Chief Executive Officer or any designated official representative.

ii) Maintain an updated record of the approved minutes of the Annual General Meeting and Committee Meetings.

iii) Maintain a list of all committees and their members as constituted by the Annual General Meeting.

iv) Provide general information on APOSHO. 

v) Assist the APOSHO Chairperson in the conduct of the Annual General Meeting.

vi) Process application for new APOSHO Membership.

vii) Present brief report on activities of APOSHO at the Annual General Meeting.

Article 7b - Role of Immediate Past Secretary General of APOSHO

The immediate past Secretary General shall stay for one (1) year as 占쏙옙Mentor占쏙옙 to work closely with the current Secretary General to ensure the smooth transition and continuation of the outstanding projects / activities. He / She may be required to attend APOSHO Special meetings, Committee and Annual General Meetings and discussions with the current Secretary General on the request of the Chairperson.

Article 8 - Annual General Meeting

a) The APOSHO Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be convened once a year at the Chairperson占쏙옙s area / region and attended by representatives of APOSHO members and APOSHO Honorary Members expect for unforeseeable circumstances.

b) Each Full Member or Associate Member having voting right shall be officially represented by two (2) delegates who are Head and Assistant Head of the delegation.  Other Members can attend the Annual General Meeting.

c) The Chairperson of APOSHO shall preside over the Annual General Meeting.

d) Matters and issues relating to APOSHO shall be discussed at the Annual General Meeting and decisions arrived shall be by consensus of the Full Members and Associate Members having voting rights.

e) In the event that voting is necessary to arrive at a decision and if there is a tie, the Chairperson will cast his vote.

f) The agenda for the Annual General Meeting shall be sent three (3) months in advance.

Article 9 - Quorum for Annual General Meeting

The quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be more than fifty percent of the total membership of Full Members and Associate Members having voting rights.  In the event that the required quorum is not reached, then the number of Full members and Associate Members having voting rights present shall constitute the quorum and the Chairperson shall proceed to convene the meeting. All matters transacted and decisions made at the meeting shall be deemed valid and constitutional.

Article 10 - Official Language

a) The official language of administration for APOSHO shall be English and the conduct of the Annual General Meeting shall be in English.

Article 11 - Membership Screening Committee

a) Each time the Secretary General of APOSHO receives an application for membership, he shall send the copies of application to the Chairperson and members of the Membership Screening Committee.  The Membership Screening Committee shall examine all such applications as per the Constitution & guidelines and make recommendations to the Annual General Meeting. b)  The members of the Membership Screening Committee shall be elected out of Full Members and Associate Members having voting rights by consensus at the Annual General Meeting and its maximum number shall be six.  The term of office shall be three (3) years. c) The Chairperson and Secretary General of APOSHO shall ex-officio sit on the Membership Screening Committee and the Chairperson of APOSHO shall serve as Chairperson of the Committee. d) The deliberations by the Membership Screening Committee may be performed by correspondence in writing.

Article 12 - Other Committees

Other committees may be formed as deemed necessary in the Annual General Meeting.

The Chairperson of each Committee shall be a Full Member or Associate Member having voting right appointed by the Annual General Meeting.

Members of the committees shall be Full Members or Associate Members having voting right, and / or specially invited members of APOSHO, appointed by the Annual General Meeting.

Article 13 - Term of Office of Committees

The term of office of Chairperson and members of Committees shall be three (3) years.  The number of members in each Committee shall not be more than six.

Article 14 - Secretariat

The Secretariat for organizing the APOSHO Annual General Meeting shall be set up by the Chairperson at his organization.

Article 15 - Financial Affairs

All expenses pertaining to the organizing of APOSHO events including the APOSHO Annual General Meeting and the Secretariat support shall be borne by the Chairperson占쏙옙s organization.

Article 16 - Review of Constitution

To remain current, the Annual General Meeting shall have the power to call for the review of the Constitution every three (3) years as the need arises.

Article 17 - Status of Existing Members

This Constitution shall not affect the status and rights of existing members of APOSHO.

Article 18 - Effective date of the Constitution

The Constitution shall take effect on April 22, 2010 Mauritius, APOSHO 25.

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to the members of the Constitution Review Committee consisting of:

Chairman: TAN Jin Thong (Singapore)

Members:  S. Veerasingam (Malaysia) LAW Chi Ming (Hong Kong) Chavalitnikul Chaiyuth (Thailand) YU Shuh Woei (Taiwan) K. C Gupta (India) Eros Zuniga (Philippines)

For their time and effort contributing to the successful compilation of APOSHO Constitution.

ANNEX

Asia Pacific is the area generally regarded as encompassing littoral East Asia, South East Asia and Australia near the Pacific Ocean, plus the status in the ocean itself (Oceania)

Specifically, the component areas of the Asia Pacific region generally includes the following countries / areas namely: Australia, Brunel, Cambodia, Fiji Indonesia, Japan Kiribati, Vietnam, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste, Tonga, Taiwan, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, People占쏙옙s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macao, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Marianna Islands (US Territories), India, Mongolia, Myanmar and Russia(sometimes included)

(Note: This is extracted from Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)