PANEL DISCUSSION WITH SOCIAL PARTNERS ON WORK-RELATED MENTAL HEALTH – INTRODUCING THE HWC 2026-2028 AND CLOSING

William Cockburn has worked at the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) since 1998 where he focused on the areas of research coordination, emerging risks and was responsible for the first European survey of enterprises on new and emerging risks (ESENER). Since 2012 and until September 2021 William was in charge of EU-OSHA’s Prevention and Research Unit, which develops the OSH content for the agency. On 16 October 2023, after a period as Interim Executive Director, William formally took the position as EU-OSHA´s Executive Director. Born in the UK, William trained first as a lawyer and then as an ergonomist. Prior to joining EU-OSHA, he worked in academic research investigating company safety culture and in the private sector as an ergonomics consultant and research manager for projects in health and safety at work.

Giulio Romani was elected Confederal Secretary at the ETUC Congress in Berlin, in May 2023. He is responsible for health & safety at work, social protection, migration and anti-discrimination and cross border workers. From 2018-2023 he was CISL Confederal Secretary dealing with labour market policies, collective bargaining, economic democracy and tax policy, among other issues. He was also for many years the General Secretary of FIRST CISL where he negotiated directly in almost all Italian banking and insurance groups.

Kris De Meester is first adviser and manager at the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium covering the field of health and safety at work as well as international social affairs. He holds a degree in chemical and agricultural engineering (University of Leuven 1989) as well as a master's in business administration (University Louvain-La-Neuve 1990) and special degrees in environmental sciences and safety and health at work.

Kris is the employer’s group spokesperson in the European Commission’s Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work. He is the chairman of the Health and Safety working group of BusinessEurope, the Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe. He is also co-chairing the IOE (International Organization of Employers) Taskforce on the Future of Work.

Kris is also a member of the governing board and the bureau of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA Bilbao), the governing board of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin), the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO Geneva), the Governing Body of the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin, the GOSH (Global OSH network of the International Organisation of Employers), the National Council for Prevention and Protection at Work in Belgium and the National Council the Protection against Fire and Explosion in Belgium.

He is also CEO of the organization Contractor Safety Management that operates B2B contractor safety management schemes in Belgium (BeSaCC: Belgian Safety Criteria for Contractors and VCA-SCC: Safety health and environment Checklist Contractors) with approximately 4000 certified companies and 100.000 workers and supervisors trained on a yearly base.

William Cockburn has worked at the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) since 1998 where he focused on the areas of research coordination, emerging risks and was responsible for the first European survey of enterprises on new and emerging risks (ESENER). Since 2012 and until September 2021 William was in charge of EU-OSHA’s Prevention and Research Unit, which develops the OSH content for the agency. On 16 October 2023, after a period as Interim Executive Director, William formally took the position as EU-OSHA´s Executive Director. Born in the UK, William trained first as a lawyer and then as an ergonomist. Prior to joining EU-OSHA, he worked in academic research investigating company safety culture and in the private sector as an ergonomics consultant and research manager for projects in health and safety at work.

Michael is head of occupational safety & health (OSH) Member Services in Ibec.

He is chairperson of the Management & Executive Boards of the European Agency for Safety & Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and is an employer representative on the European Commissions’ Advisory Committee on Safety & Health (ACSH). He is a former Deputy Chairperson of the Board of the Health and Safety Authority in Ireland. He has a BA (Mod.) and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Trinity College Dublin & a Diploma in Safety Health & Welfare at Work from University College Dublin.