Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer

President
International Social Security Association


Professor 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.

Sessions


9:00 - 9:20 am EDT / 13:00 – 13:20 pm UTC / 15:00 – 15:20 pm CEST
Opening Remarks

Speakers:
The Honourable Minister Filomena Tassi, Minister of Labour, Government of Canada
Mr. Guy Ryder, Director-General, International Labour Organization
Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer, President, International Social Security Association
Prof. Dr. Cameron Mustard, President, Institute for Work & Health and Chair, International Organizing Committee, XXII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work
Ms. Anne Tennier, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

Languages:
English, French, German, Spanish

9:20 - 10:05 am EDT / 13:20 – 14:05 pm UTC / 15:30- 16:05 pm CEST
Panel 1: Innovation in addressing COVID-19

COVID-19 represents a new type of occupational disease, with rapid onset of symptoms rather than the traditional long latency period. The need for immediate and urgent action by governments and workplaces to safeguard workers means new ways of diagnosing, recording and notifying are required to meet this challenge and to evaluate the burden and impact on workplaces and social security systems. In this session, panelists will address this challenge with a focus on the virtual OSH training and technology as a tool in the response to COVID-19, the development and dissemination of workplace infection prevention practices in the context to COVID-19, and the new complexities COVID-19 brings to already existing legal issues related to prevention and health data.

Panelists:
Prof. Dr. Joachim Breuer, President, International Social Security Association
Prof. Dr. Seong-Kyu Kang, MD, PhD, Professor, Gachon University Gil Medical Centre and Vice President, International Commission on Occupational Health, Republic of Korea
Prof. Dr. Katherine Lippel, Distinguished Research Chair on Occupational Health and Safety Law, University of Ottawa, Canada
Mr. Emad Rizkalla, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bluedrop Performance Learning, Canada
Prof. Dr. Andrew Sharman, President, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, United Kingdom

Moderator:
Ms. Vera Paquete-Perdigão, Director of the Governance and Tripartism Department, International Labour Organization

Languages:
English, French, German, Spanish