THE CONSTITUTION

Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organization

Background

The Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organization, hereinafter referred to as “APOSHO”, is an international body composed of non-profit and 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 “Coordinating Committee of Asia Pacific National Safety Councils”. 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 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. 1. To promote and enhance understanding and cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region in areas related to Occupational Safety and Health awareness and practices.
2. 2. To promote networking and exchange of information on Occupational Safety and Health awareness and practices 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.

1. 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.

   AFull Members shall have voting rights at all APOSHO meetings including the Annual General Meeting.

2. b) An Associate Member

   In case that no organization in the Asia Pacific region qualifies for a) above in the said countries or areas, any governmental organization engaged in activities related to Occupational, Safety and Health in the said country or areamay 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 activity, may only apply to be upgraded to Associate Member status.

3. c) An Affiliate Member

   A non-government organization within 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.

   An independent, non-government, non-profit and non-political organization outside the Asia Pacific Region, which is mainly engaged in promoting activities and programs related to 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.

4. 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/her organization for the Honorary Membership. Such nomination shall be supported in writing by a minimum of 5(five) Full Members of APOSHO.

   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

1. 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 Committee for evaluation and recommendation to the Annual General Meeting for consideration.
2. 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 organization having undergone significant change(s) in organizational structure, functional activities, resources and profit allocation, and/or any status affecting the provisions stated in Article 3 above, shall have an absolute duty to inform APOSHO and shall provide a written report to the Secretary General for the consideration of the Membership Committee. A resolution of the Membership Committee shall be tabled at an Annual General Meeting for approval.

Suspension of membership shall apply if a Member of APOSHO has failed to attend three (3) consecutive Annual General Meetings. The Member shall write to the Secretary General of APOSHO to explain 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.

An Honorary Member shall not display any acts constituting an improper representation of APOSHO and shall have an absolute duty to inform APOSHO of any condition(s) in the respects of misconduct, professional negligence, breach of professional ethics, and/or his/her being expelled from the Member organization to which he/she originally belonged. The Member organization to which the Honorary Member originally belonged shall also have a duty to report to APOSHO. Reporting of the same shall be made in writing to the Secretary General for the consideration of the Membership Committee. A resolution of the Membership Committee shall be tabled at an Annual General Meeting for approval.

Article 6 – The Chairperson

1. a) The Chairperson shall be elected from the Full Members or Associate Members having voting right at the Annual General Meeting by consensus.
2. b) The Chairperson’s term of office shall be for the period till the next Annual General Meeting.
3. c) The Chairperson shall represent APOSHO and oversee its organization and overall operations of the APOSHO event during his term of office.
4. d) The Chairperson shall preside over the Annual General Meeting and report on APOSHO’s activities during his/her term of office.
5. e) The Chairperson may invite observers to attend the Annual General Meeting.

Article 7 – Secretary General

Only an individual from a Full Member 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 three (3) consecutive Annual General Meetings. The Maximum number of terms is to be 2(two).

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:

1. i) to 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.
2. ii) to maintain an updated record of the approved minutes of the Annual General Meeting and Committee Meetings.
3. iii) to maintain a list of all committees and their members as constituted by the Annual General Meeting.
4. iv) to provide general information on APOSHO.
5. v) to assist the APOSHO Chairperson in the conduct of the Annual General Meeting.
6. vi) to process application for new APOSHO Membership.
7. vii) to present a 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 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

1. a) The APOSHO Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be convened once a year at the Chairperson’s area / region.
2. b) Full Members or Associate Members having voting right shall be officially represented by two (2) delegates who are Head and Deputy Head of the delegation. Other Members can also attend the Annual General Meeting.
3. c) 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.
4. d) In the event that voting is necessary to arrive at a decision and if there is a tie, the Chairperson will cast his/her vote.
5. e) The agenda for the Annual General Meeting shall be distributed to all Members one (1)month 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 except constitutional amendment.

Article 10 –Official Language

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 Committee

1. a) Each time the Secretary General of APOSHO receives an application for membership, he/she shall send the copies of application to the Chairperson and members of the Membership Committee. The Membership Committee shall examine all such applications according to the Constitution and make recommendations to the Annual General Meeting.
2. b) The members of the Membership Committee shall be elected out of Full Members and Associate Members having voting rights by consensus at the Annual General Meeting. The term of office shall be three (3) years.
3. c) The Chairperson and Secretary General of APOSHO shall sit on the Membership Committee and the Chairperson of APOSHO shall be the Chairperson of the Committee.
4. d) The Immediate Past Chairperson of APOSHO and the Immediate Past Secretary General shall sit ex-officio on the Membership Committee until the next Annual General Meeting.

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.

Membership of the Committees shall be open to Members of all categories and shall be approved at the Annual General Meeting.

Article 13 – Term of Office of Committees

The term of office of Chairperson and members of each Committee shall be three (3) years, except that of the Chairperson of the Management and Development Committee and the Membership Committee who shall be the Chairman of APOSHO, and the term of office shall be one (1) year.

Article 14 – Secretariat

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

APOSHO shall collect levy in the form of annual membership subscription and/or voluntary contribution if it deems necessary for the future development of APOSHO. Resolution of a levy collection shall be approved at the Annual General Meeting.

Article 16 – Review of Constitution

The Annual General Meeting shall have the power to call for the review of the Constitution as the need arises.

Article 17 – Status of Existing Members

This Constitution shall not affect the status and rights of existing members of APOSHO, except under the condition in which Article 5 of this Constitution may apply.

Article 18 – Effective date of the Constitution

This Constitution shall take effect on June 4,2015at APOSHO 30 in Seoul, Korea.

Signed

• Dr. Lee, Young-Soon
• Mr. Chi-Ming Law
• Chairman of APOSHO 30
• Secretary General of APOSHO

ANNEX-1

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’s 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)

Annex-2

RESPONSIBILITIES OF APOSHO MEMBERS

1. 1. To understand the objectives and scope of APOSHO and to ensure a strict compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of APOSHO.
2. 2. To explore the possibilities of expanding the membership base of APOSHO without compromising the objectives, nature, constitutional framework and harmony of APOSHO organization built over the years.
3. 3. To respond to the communications received from the Chairman and the Secretary General in respect of all matters relating to APOSHO in an earliest possible manner.
4. 4. To strengthen the equity, build trust and relationship with all members of APOSHO and project APOSHO as one family devoted to OSH in the region.
5. 5. Wherever possible promote APOSHO organization and its activities at various forum in member country or district, as well as at international level.
6. 6. Share with APOSHO members as well as Chairman and Secretary General if any news; article; incident involving any APOSHO member is known to them including their achievements, as well as any sanctions (bad publicity)
7. 7. While scrutiny, review of membership applications use objectivity in giving opinions and comments, so that genuine applicants are admitted, re-graded or upgraded to relevant category of membership.
8. 8. To interact with other APOSHO members and/or non-members, for seeking their views, opinions on the future development and membership enhancement of APOSHO.
9. 9. To strictly follow and comply with all the Guidelines of APOSHO.

Annex-3

DEFINITION OF TERMS

1. 1. Non-government – An organization independent from government control, provided it is not for profit. It should be registered society having copy of registration.
   • At least having 2 years existence – (UN requirement)
   • Annual Report with financial statement
   • Must have democratic decision making mechanism--Board of Governors, Executive Committee
   • Majority of funding should come from members, contributions from affiliates or other NGO(s)
2. 2. Independent
   • Independent of govt. control
   • Not affiliated to any political; religious; profit; business organization; private organization
   • 3. Not-for-profit / Non profit
   • Purpose is other than making profit
   • Profits applied /spent to further achieve the cause or mission of the organization
   • Surplus is not distributed to organization members
3. 4. Non-political
   • Not affiliated to any political party, political identity, philosophy
4. 5. Active Participation / Significant Contribution (use of following criteria)
   • Attendance in APOSHO conferences and meetings
   • Presentations in Conferences
   • Chairmanship in Conferences
   • Chairmanship and/or Membership of Committee(s) of APOSHO
   • Suggestions, opinions, proposals, and assistance offered to APOSHO
   • Prepared documents for APOSHO
   • Others : Contributions and Presentations

Prepared by the National Safety Council of India at APOSHO 31 in April 2016