> About APOSHO > APOSHO Constitution -23th Conference -22th Conference -21th Conference -20th Conference -19th Conference -18th Conference -17th Conference -16th Conference -15th Conference -14th Conference -13th Conference THE CONSTITUTION OF THE APOSHO - Amended by the 14th APOSHO Annual Meeting held on 23 April 1998 in Seoul, Korea  Article 1. Objective The objective of the Asia Pacific Occupational Safety & Health Organization (hereinafter referred to as "APOSHO") is to promote mutual understanding and cooperation among the communities in the Asia-Pacific region as well as to contribute to the enhancement of occupational safety and health in these communities through the exchange of information and views among competent people including top-level managers of the member organizations.  Article 2. Structure APOSHO is composed of organizations mainly engaged in activities related to occupational safety and health in the Asia-Pacific region. Asia Pacific region refers to the Asian countries and areas, Australia and Pacific islands as shown in the list attached to the constitution.  Article 3. Qualification for Membership Full Member An organization which is an independent, non-governmental, and nonprofit public welfare organization based in the Asia-Pacific region and mainly engaged in activities related to occupational safety and health shall be eligible for the Full Membership. Associate Member In case that no organization qualified for 1) above exists 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. Affiliate Member 3 - 1 In case that an organization applies for membership from a country or area which is already represented by its Full Member, then the new application will be considered for Affiliate Member status. 3 - 2 Application for membership from any organization outside the Asia-Pacific region which is mainly engaged in activities related to occupational safety and health will be considered for Affiliate Member status. Honorary Member Any person from a member organization who has contributed significantly to the role and function of APOSHO may be nominated and accepted as an Honorary Member of the organization. Such acceptance must be ratified at an Annual Meeting. The qualification mentioned in 1) above shall not be binding upon those organizations which have already become the members of APOSHO by the time this constitution was approved at the Annual Meeting held in 1993 at Jakarta Indonesia.  Article 4. Approval of Membership Applications for membership shall be made in writing to the Chairperson. The approval of the membership shall be given by a majority of the membership of APOSHO, following the Membership Screening Committee's examination of the applicant's qualification and its unanimous nomination based thereon. Voting by the members may be invited and carried out by correspondence writing.  Article 5. Disqualification of Membership If a member fails to attend three consecutive Annual Meetings without reasonable justification, the member may be deprived of the membership through the decision of the Annual Meeting.  Article 6. Chairpersonship The Chairperson shall not only represent APOSHO, but also superintend its overall operation. The Chairperson shall be elected out of the representatives of the member organizations by the consensus at the Annual Meeting. The Chairperson's term of office shall be one year. The chairperson shall report on a year's activities of APOSHO at the Annual Meeting.  Article 7. Annual Meeting The Annual Meeting shall be convened by the Chairperson once a year and be attended by representatives of member organizations. The decision on important matters concerning APOSHO shall be made, in principle, by the consensus at the Annual Meeting. The Chairperson of APOSHO shall preside over the Annual Meeting. Full or Associate Members shall be eligible to offer and be invited to host the APOSHO Annual Meetings. Observers may be invited to the Annual Meeting with the consent of the Chairperson.  Article 8. Voting right Only Full Members shall have voting rights at the Annual Meeting. In case that a country or area is represented by only an Associate Member, the Associate Member shall be given a voting right.  Article 9. Membership Screening Committee Each time the Chairperson of APOSHO receives an application for membership, the Membership Screening Committee shall examine the applicant's qualification and, based on the result of the examination, nominate the new member to APOSHO. The members of the Membership Screening Committee shall be elected out of Full Members by the consensus at the Annual Meeting and its maximum number shall be five. The Chairperson of APOSHO shall sit on the Membership Screening Committee and serve as its chairperson. The deliberation by the Membership Screening Committee may be performed by correspondence in writing.  Article 10. Technical Committee The Technical Committee shall implement activities or projects to promote balanced development of safety and health conditions among member countries by encouraging benchmarking successful practices and exchange of technical information on occupational safety and health. The members and chairperson of the Technical Committee shall be elected by the consensus at the Annual Meeting.  Article 11. Secretariat The Secretariat shall be set up in the organization to which the Chairperson belongs. The Secretariat shall attend to the office work pertaining to the operation of APOSHO under instructions from the Chairperson.  Article 12. Financial Affairs The expenses pertaining to the Chairperson's duties and the operation of the Secretariat shall be shouldered by the member organization to which the Chairperson belongs. The host organization of the Annual Meeting shall bear the office expenses necessary for the operation of the Annual Meeting such as those for securing the venue and preparing the materials, etc. Other expenses involved in the holding of the Annual Meeting may be shared among all the organizations attending the Meeting. In spite of the provisions given in a) and b) above, other arrangements may be made in case they become necessary or considered more appropriate in terms of the operation of APOSHO.  Article 13. Languages The official language of APOSHO shall be English. Arrangements for translation or interpretation services may be made by the Secretariat, however, if the need arises, within the limits of available resources.  Article 14. Amendments Amendments to this constitution may be proposed at the Annual Meeting by the consensus of the attending organizations. The amendments, after circulation, can be confirmed at the next Annual Meeting. In case it is considered that the number of the attending organizations is too small to reflect the collective will of APOSHO, amendments to the constitution may be made, as required, by a majority of the membership of APOSHO. In this case, voting by the members may be invited and performed by correspondence in writing. APPENDIX TO THE CONSTITUTION 1. Article 1 (Objective), 2 (Structure) and 3 (Qualification for Membership) There was a discussion concerning the objective of the APOSHO in Article 1 - its role shall not be limited to the "enhancement of occupational safety and health" as a whole but shall further enhance safety and health in a broad sense. However, the consensus was made to have the objective as to serve for the "enhancement of occupational safety and health" as a whole. On the other hand, while the members of APOSHO shall be engaged in the activities mainly related to "occupational safety and health", as in Article 2 and 3; it was agreed that the members should not restrict their activities to "occupational safety and health" as a whole: it is acceptable that the members may conduct safety and health activities out of "occupational" subjects, and accordingly, the subjects other than the safety and health activities in occupation may be discussed at the committee. As a result, it is agreed that the requirement to the members in Article 2 and 3 shall be adjusted as an organization "mainly engaged in activities related to occupational safety and health." The interpretation of "non governmental" organization shall be "an organization other than the very governmental institutions". 2. Article 6 (Chairpersonship) It is agreed that the election of the Chairperson shall be conducted in the manner described in 2) of Article 14 if it is considered that the number of attending organizations in the Annual Meeting is too small to reflect the collective will of APOSHO. 3. Article 7 (Annual Meeting) It is agreed that two persons shall represent each member organizations and 2) of Article 7 shall be conducted in the manner described in 2) of Article 14 - as well as the election of the Chairperson stipulated in Article 6. 4. Definition of Consensus "Consensus" means general support of voting members. Notes The original Constitution was approved by the 9th APOSHO Annual Meeting held on 7 September 1993 at Jakarta Indonesia. This Constitution was amended by the 14th APOSHO Annual Meeting held on 23 April 1998 at Seoul Korea. ---------------------- Attached List ---------------------- Asia-Pacific Countries/region Afghanistan Bangladesh Brunei Darussalam Bhutan Cambodia China (People's Republic of) Hong Kong(SAR, China) India (Republic of) Indonesia Japan Korea(Republic of) Korea(Democratic People's Republic of) Laos Macau(SAR, China) Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Pakistan(Islamic Republic of) Philippines(Republic of the) Singapore(Republic of) Sri Lanka(Democratic Socialist Republic of) Taiwan Thailand(Kingdom of) Vietnam(Socialist Republic of) Australia Fiji Nauru New Zealand Papua New Guinea Tonga Western Samoa