What is ENETOSH
ENETOSH is a European network that brings together institutions dedicated to education and training in occupational safety and health. It is not a public body or an entity with its own clearly identified legal personality in its public documentation: it presents itself as a cooperation network between institutions, created under the auspices of a European project.
Its origin dates back to a project co-financed by the European Commission within the Leonardo da Vinci program, whose initial phase was developed between October 2005 and September 2007. The network started with thirteen participating organizations from ten countries, and since then it has expanded its base of members and collaborating institutions.
There is no verified information on a single physical headquarters or a formal legal form for the network, beyond its status as a project and, subsequently, a long-term cooperation network, so this sheet does not include that information.
Purpose and scope of action
ENETOSH’s stated objective is to integrate safety, health, and well-being into the education system to promote quality education and foster a preventative culture from an early age. Its scope covers the entire educational journey: from preschool through primary and secondary education, including vocational and university training, and extending to continuing education for individuals already in the workforce.
This breadth of stages is what distinguishes ENETOSH from other networks focused exclusively on the training of adult workers : its premise is that the preventive culture is built before incorporation into the labor market, integrating it into the general education system.
Functions and main lines of work
ENETOSH’s activity is organized around several stable resources and lines of work.
- Database of good practices. It maintains a repository with more than a thousand examples of good practices in education and training in safety and health, from dozens of countries, organized according to the network’s own criteria.
- Strategic framework. It works on a multi-year strategic framework that sets objectives, operational goals, indicators and lines of action coordinated among the members of the network.
- National Ambassador Network. It has a network of ambassadors who represent ENETOSH in their respective countries, and who act as a point of contact and dissemination of the network at the national level.
Contribution to safety and health at work
ENETOSH’s contribution to occupational safety and health (OSH) is primarily educational and disseminated, not regulatory: the network does not dictate prevention standards nor does it replace the official educational curricula of each country, which remain the responsibility of national or regional educational authorities. Its added value lies in offering a comparative catalog of experiences integrating safety and health into education, which educational institutions, universities, and training organizations in different countries can consult and adapt.
This contribution connects directly with the idea of a preventive culture understood in a broad sense: prevention does not begin in the company, but in the habits and knowledge that a person acquires throughout their educational career, long before entering the labor market.
Relationship with the ORP International Foundation
ENETOSH brings to the ORP International Foundation’s institutional advisory committee the profile of a network, not an entity with its own legal personality: it brings together European institutions dedicated to education and training in occupational safety and health since its origin in 2005 as a project of the Leonardo da Vinci program, with a database of more than a thousand good practices.
Practical application
For an educational center, university, or training entity that wants to incorporate occupational safety and health content into its offerings, the ENETOSH database of good practices provides concrete examples already applied in other countries, which can serve as a reference for curriculum design.
For a prevention professional working in training, knowing ENETOSH helps to place one’s own training activity within a broader European framework, and to identify comparable experiences of integrating OSH into regulated education, not just in specifically work-related training.
