1 Elke Schneider Elke Schneider has been active as a project manager at EU-OSHA since 2002, on a variety of topics. She was involved in setting up the Agency’s European risk observatory and in charge of the “Occupational Safety and Health in figures” project combining occupational health and safety statistics at the European and national level and occupational safety and health research information, amongst others on an update on the situation of women at work in Europe. Elke Schneider has a degree in technical chemistry/ biochemistry and a doctorate in technical sciences from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria.

Before joining EU-OSHA in 2002, Elke Schneider worked as deputy head of unit for European and International Affairs at the central authority of the Austrian Labour Inspection within the Ministry of Economics and Labour, now Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection.

She has been a national delegate to the EU Commission and Council and involved in cooperation with SLIC (the Senior Labour Inspectors’ Committee) and many other stakeholders. She has also been a member in the Austrian Association of Toxicologists.

2 Agnes Parent-Thirion

Agnès Parent-Thirion - Senior Programme Manager for the European Working Conditions Survey (the EWCS) , Eurofound

Agnès Parent-Thirion is the Senior Programme Manager in charge of the planning, implementation and analysis of the European Working Conditions Survey, within the Working Conditions and Industrial Relations Unit at the EU Agency EUROFOUND. She is the project manager for the European working conditions survey (EWCS). Preparation for the 6th wave of the European Working Conditions Survey are underway as

data collection will take place in 2015. Most analysis of the 5th EWCS have been completed. She is involved in developing comparative analysis of working conditions in non European countries. Agnès is also involved in Eurofound research project on “sustainable work over the lifecourse”. She is also involved in the European Company Survey (ECS) analysis.

She has been working in European social research for 15 years. Her research interests include quality of work and employment issues, working conditions, work organization, gender and working time.

Prior to her appointment in Eurofound, she worked for the European Commission in DG Employment, in Caisse Centrale de Mutualité sociale Agricole - a social insurance body for farmers, a research center, and in French TV. In addition, Agnès was an entrepreneur for a while and set up a TV producing company.

3 Nicola Lee,

Nicola Lee worked in the voluntary sector, higher education and the NHS before joining the RCN in 2001 in its Welfare Rights service. Nicola now works as an Adviser in the Employment Relations Department with a brief covering national pay and employment terms and conditions, pensions, equality and diversity as well as representing the RCN at a number of NHS Staff Council sub groups including the NHS Working Longer Group.

4 Nettie Van der Auwera, Prevent (BE), PH Work

Nettie Van der Auwera works at Prevent Foundation as assistant-coordinator of the European Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP - www.enwhp.org). Starting October 2012, she took over project management of the PH Work initiative. "Promoting Healthy Work for Employees with Chronic illness - Public Health and Work (PH Work)" is the ninth joint initiative by the members of the network. This initiative was concluded by the European conference on "Workplace Health Practices for Employees with Chronic Illness", hosted in Brussels on 22-23 October 2013.

5 Dominique Baradat, ARACT Aquitaine (FR)

Since 1990, Dominique Baradat has worked as a project manager at ARACT (Association Régionale pour l'Amélioration des Conditions de Travail) Aquitaine.

Mrs Baradat has a degree in Ergonomics from the University of Bordeaux. She is responsible for several themes: projects investing in health at work, workplace health promotion, job retention / sustainable work. Her interests lie with people affected by chronic illness and the problems they face at work. She particularly looks at how to adapt the work organisation.

6 Agnes Uherecky, Coface-EU

Agnes Uhereczky, a Hungarian national is in Brussels since 2002, working in different organisations. Since 2012 she is the director of COFACE - the Confederation of Family Organisations in the EU. A passionate civil society lobbyist, Agnes is working towards more equality, more work-life balance and better EU and national policies to improve citizens' quality of life. She is particularly interested in how public policy can support working parents and carers, what the role for the private sector could be and how a partnership between the two can create a better working and living environment. Agnes has a number of publications, among which an article on work-life balance in the UN Publication "Family Futures" in 2014, and she is a regular speaker and facilitator in international events and conferences.

7 Jane Pillinger, Moderator

Jane Pillinger is an independent researcher and policy advisor. Her particular areas of expertise include social, equality and employment policies. She advises trade unions, governments and EU institutions on these policy issues. She has been a special advisor to the UK House of Commons Select Committee on Employment. She holds honorary research positions at Leeds University and University College Dublin. Her most recent published work is an introduction to the experiences and situation of migrant women workers.

In outlining the role and purpose of the seminar, Jane Pillinger, acknowledged its importance in engaging with a wide range of stakeholders in strategic discussions about the integration of a gender perspective into occupational safety and health (OSH) policy and practice. Further, the backdrop to the seminar was the presentation of the results of the recent research study carried out on gender, work and occupational safety and health by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). This research, which is currently being finalised, has engaged in a detailed review of the literature regarding gender and occupational safety and health, and an analysis of the new risks and trends impacting on the safety and health of women at work.