Opening and Keynote Speakers

The World Congress was a unique opportunity for the global prevention community to gather and learn from each other. Our opening speakers welcomed the world to this critical event, discussed the state of OSH today, and reflected on the power of storytelling, the opportunity to find common ground, connect on an emotional level, and shared ideas and knowledge.

The World Congress keynote speakers touched on four dimensions of these challenges and opportunities to innovate in the prevention of work-related injury and illness, with the goal of achieving safe and healthy work for all.

The World Congress is also a unique opportunity for the global prevention community to gather and learn from each other. Our opening speaker will reflect on the power of storytelling, the opportunity to find common ground, connect on an emotional level, and share ideas and knowledge. 

Opening Session Speakers



Mr. Cameron Bailey
Artistic Director and Co-Head, Toronto International Film Festival


Few people understand the importance of the arts and cultural sector better than Cameron Bailey. The artistic director and co-head of one of the world's biggest and most important film festivals, He is responsible for the Toronto International Film Festival's (TIFF) programming and curatorial vision, as well as maintaining relationships with the Canadian and international film industries. Bailey brings a comprehensive wealth of experience to his position, and under his lead the festival continues to grow in size and significance every year.

Before assuming his current role at TIFF, Bailey worked as a Festival programmer for 11 years. In addition, he has programmed and hosted TIFF's highly successful subscription series "Reel Talk"; headed its "Perspective Canada" series; and founded its "Planet Africa" section. Prior to joining TIFF, Bailey curated films for Cinematheque Ontario, The National Gallery of Canada, The National Film Board of Canada, and Australia's Sydney International Film Festival.

A former film critic, Bailey reviewed films for NOW Magazine, CBC Radio One and CTV's Canada AM; presented international cinema on The Showcase Revue; and produced and hosted the interview program Filmmaker. He has been published in The Globe and Mail, The Village Voice, CineAction!, and Screen, among others.

Bailey has taught film curation at the University of Toronto, and holds an honorary doctorate from Western University. He is a Chevalier in France's Order of Arts and Letters. For eight consecutive years (2012–2019), Toronto Life magazine has named him one of "Toronto's 50 Most Influential People."

Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer
President, International Social Security


AssociationProfessor Joachim Breuer serves as the President of the International Social Security Association since 2016. He is internationally recognized as an expert on social security and social insurance. Professor Joachim Breuer has been working for over 30 years in various positions in the German Social Accident system where he retired in June 2019 as Director General of the German Social Accident Insurance. Since then he is working for DGUV as Ambassador for International Relations.

Professor Breuer has advised a number of governments on the establishment of social insurance systems, particularly insurance schemes for occupational diseases and accidents as well as structures aimed at prevention, rehabilitation and occupational re-integration, including Brazil, China and the Russian Federation. Professor Breuer is Co-Chairman of the International Disability Management Standards Council and Honourary President of the German Wheelchair Sports Association.

Born in Germany, Professor Joachim Breuer studied law at universities in Bonn and Berlin, and completed his doctorate in canon and civil law in 1985. Since 2018, he holds a professorship for Insurance Medicine at the University in Lübeck, Germany.
Prof. Dr. Cameron Mustard

Prof. Dr. Cameron Mustard
President & Senior Scientist, Institute for Work & Health
Chair, International Organizing Committee, XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, Canada


Prof. Dr. Cameron Mustard is Chair of the International Organizing Committee, XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, Canada.

Prof. Dr. Cameron Mustard is the President and a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. He is also a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.

Prof. Dr. Mustard completed his doctoral training in epidemiology, health policy and behavioural sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1990. Prior to joining the Institute in 1999, he was a member of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation at the University of Manitoba.

Prof. Dr. Mustard's current research interests include work environments, labour market experiences and health, the distributional equity of publicly funded health and health care programs in Canada, and the epidemiology of socioeconomic health inequalities across the human life course.

Mr. Guy Ryder
Director-General, International Labour Organization


Guy Ryder was elected as Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) by the ILO's Governing Body in May 2012 and took office on 1 October 2012. He was re-elected as ILO Director-General by the ILO's Governing Body on 7 November 2016 with overwhelming support across the ILO's tripartite constituency. His second term started on 1 October 2017.

Guy Ryder first joined the ILO in 1998 as Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities and, from 1999, as Director of the Office of the Director-General. In 2002, he was appointed General Secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). He was elected as first General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) when it was created in 2006. In September 2010, Guy Ryder came back to the ILO as Executive Director.

Born in Liverpool (UK) in 1956, Guy Ryder studied Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Latin American Studies at the University of Liverpool. He started his professional career in 1981 at the International Department of the Trade Union Congress in London. From 1985, he held the position of Secretary of the Industry Trade Section of the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET) in Geneva. In 1988, Guy Ryder became Assistant Director and – from 1993 - Director of the Geneva office of the ICFTU.

Ms Anne Tennier, P.Eng., EP
President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
Member, International Organizing Committee, XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work


Anne Tennier is a member of the International Organizing Committee, XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.

Anne Tennier was appointed President of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in April 2018. Anne brings to CCOHS a wealth of leadership and experience in environmental and safety management, community engagement, and government relations.

Prior to joining CCOHS, Anne was the President of her own consulting firm where she provided expert services for complex regulatory permitting projects. She joined Maple Leaf Foods in 2001 and served in several leadership positions, including as the Vice President, Environmental Affairs and Sustainability. Prior to this, Anne worked for Canadian Pacific Railway as Director, Environmental Affairs and Field Operations Manager in Northern Ontario. She also holds various positions with several professional and community associations and is heavily involved with many Hamilton charities and initiatives.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Science in chemistry and a Master of Engineering in chemical engineering and is a registered Professional Engineer and Certified Environmental Professional.

Keynote Speakers

 

Dr. John Howard
Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services


John Howard is the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the Administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Howard was first appointed NIOSH Director in 2002 during the George W. Bush Administration and served in that position until 2008. In 2009, Dr. Howard worked as a consultant with the US-Afghanistan Health Initiative. In September of 2009, Dr. Howard was again appointed NIOSH Director, and was reappointed for a third six-year term in 2015.

Prior to his appointments a NIOSH Director and WTC Health Program Administrator, Dr. Howard served as Chief of the Division of Occupational Safety and Health in the State of California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency from 1991 through 2002.

Dr. Howard earned a Doctor of Medicine from Loyola University of Chicago; a Master of Public Health from the Harvard University School of Public Health; a Doctor of Law from the University of California at Los Angeles; and a Master of Law in Administrative Law and Economic Regulation, and a Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management, both degrees from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Howard is board-certified in internal medicine and occupational medicine. He is admitted to the practice of medicine and law in the State of California and in the District of Columbia , and he is a member U.S. Supreme Court bar. He has written numerous articles on occupational health, policy and law.

Dr. Elizabeth Nkumbula
Founder and Chairperson, ENVIS Consulting Limited, Zambia 


Dr. Nkumbula is Founder and Chairperson of ENVIS Consulting Limited with over 30 years' experience in corporate finance and corporate governance. She is an accomplished executive leader with working experience in the financial and social security sector. She has previously held the position of Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer at Workers Compensation Fund Control Board where she was appointed as first female into the role by the President of the Republic of Zambia, His Excellency, Michael Chilufya Sata. She held various key strategic senior management positions in Zambia National Building Society that included Director Banking Operations and later joined Pan African Building Society as Managing Director.

Dr. Nkumbula is Board Chairperson of Zambia International Trade Fair, and Mukuba Hotel Limited. She serves as a Board member of a number of local and international institutions including ZAFFICO Plc. She served as Board Chairperson at Mukuba Pension Trust and National Vocational Training Centre.

Dr. Nkumbula successfully set in motion the National Launch of International Social Security Association Vision Zero Global Campaign in Zambia in 2018.

She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Business Administration and a Master's Degree in Business Administration both majoring in Finance. She served as the first Zambian female President of the Agricultural and Commercial Society of Zambia and also as the Deputy President of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth in United Kingdom. She was recently appointed as Zambian Ambassador for Patient Safety Movement Foundation, USA.

Prof. Dr. Atsushi Seike
President, The Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan


Professor Atsushi Seikeis currently President of the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan. After serving two consecutive terms as the President of Keio University, he took up the role of Executive Advisor for Academic Affairs in May 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Labor Economics from Keio University and became Associate Professor at Keio’s Faculty of Business and Commerce in 1985, Professor in1992, Dean from 2007-2009, and President of the University from 2009-2017. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, a consultant at the RAND Corporation, and an Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies at Harvard University

His roles in government committees include Chairman of the Council for the Promotion of Social Security System Reform, Honorary President of the Economic and Social Research Institute of Cabinet Office and Chairman of the Labour Policy Council. He is also serving as President of the Japan National Council of Social Welfare. He was the President of the Japan Society of Human Resource Management and the President of the Japan Association of Private Universities and Colleges. He has also served as a member of the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) and Global Agenda Council on Ageing, both at the World Economic Forum and a member of the ILO Global Commission on the Future of Work

He was awarded Honorary Doctorates from École Centrale de Nantes in 2012 and Yonsei University in 2015 and the title of Chevalier of the Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur of France in 2016.

Ms. Maayan Ziv,
President,CEO and Founder, AccessNow


Maayan Ziv is an activist, photographer and entrepreneur. In 2015, she launched AccessNow, a mobile app and website that collects and shares information about the accessibility status of places worldwide. What began as a response to her frustration when trying to navigate inaccessible places, AccessNow soon grew to become a mission-oriented social start-up. Within just a couple years AccessNow has vocalized a movement for inclusion, inviting people of all abilities to contribute to the platform. As CEO of AccessNow, Maayan has created a powerful shift in thinking about the importance of accessibility in our world, from accessible technologies to infrastructure, public policy, media and communications. To date AccessNow has shared accessibility information in over 35 countries.

An influential public speaker who is often in the media, Maayan collaborates with private sector companies as well as government and not-for-profit organizations. She inspires leaders dedicated to raising the profile of accessibility for all.