IMSS presents ELSSA program to establish a new culture of prevention and health promotion in workplaces

• Thanks to the collaboration with various organizations, achievements have been made for the benefit of the country’s workers: Zoé Robledo.
• The fundamental thing is to tell workers how to prevent and treat their main health ailments: Governor Samuel García.
• In Monterrey, Nuevo León, the National Agreement for the Health, Safety and Well-being of Working People was signed.

The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the government of Nuevo León, members of the federal government cabinet, representatives of the business and worker sectors presented the Safe and Healthy Work Environments (ELSSA) program, and signed the National Agreement for the Health, Safety and Well-being of Working People, to integrate efforts and establish a new culture of prevention and health promotion in the workplace.

These actions in favor of the health of workers in Mexico to reduce chronic-degenerative diseases and avoid accidents in the workplace, were achieved through extensive coordination of the IMSS with the business sector, states and labor organizations.

When presenting this strategy at the Fundidora Park in Monterrey, Nuevo León, which was attended by the governor of the entity, Samuel García Sepúlveda, leaders of the business sector, workers and the Secretary of Economy, Tatiana Cluothier, the general director of the Insurance Social, Zoé Robledo, highlighted that from the difficult experience of the Cpvid-19 pandemic, a space for learning and lessons should be developed, such as the New Normality and coordination with businessmen, “that possibility of working on the basis of trust This is what we have proposed here today with ELSSA, trust based on co-responsibility”.

He indicated that thanks to the collaboration with various organizations, achievements have been made for the benefit of the country’s workers, such as the reform in pensions and outsourcing, an increase in the minimum wage and maximum figures in the generation of formal jobs.

The general director of the IMSS affirmed that the common factor in all these processes was working together, “not thinking of going alone to go fast, but thinking of going together to go far. There have never been closed doors, nor deaf ears”, it is about establishing a much longer and deeper relationship on this sensitive issue of social justice, which has to do with safe and healthy work environments.

Zoé Robledo pointed out that one of the elements that must also be addressed is that of mental health and presenteeism, “this one that many call the evil of heating the chair, the worker who attends on his schedule, to his job, but that does not carry out its functions, is a phenomenon that is growing in many parts of the world and that we still have to incorporate it into our work culture”.

He commented that the launch of ELSSA in Monterrey is due to the fact that it is the optimal place to talk about health at work and the New Normality, with representatives of the business sector and unions, “the best way to predict the success of ELSSA is that great call that was had today”.

In his speech, the governor of the state of Nuevo León, Samuel García Sepúlveda, thanked the director of the IMSS, Zoé Robledo, for turning to see Nuevo León for the signing of the National Agreement for the Health, Safety and Well-being of People Workers.

He commented that he will be attentive to the first results of the ELSSA program in terms of risk and disease reduction, which is key because it is no longer about telling workers what they suffer from, but about how to treat it and how to prevent it.

In his message, the director of Economic and Social Benefits of the IMSS, Dr. Mauricio Hernández, explained that through ELSSA a strategy to protect the health of workers will be addressed in an integral way, in order to prevent injuries and illnesses; In this way, better health indicators will be achieved and the growing increase in chronic illnesses that afflict the population will be curbed.

He stressed that the joint work of companies and government will add the first million workers who will receive the benefits of the program, and at the same time, productivity will be increased for the benefit of economic growth and the integral development of Mexico.

Speaking, the Secretary of the Economy, Tatiana Clouthier Carrillo, stressed that given the teachings of Covid-19, it is necessary to seek better environments with employers to advance and achieve benefits for each of the workers, continue with training, and achieve healthy and responsible environments that can reach all corners of the country.

Through a video message, the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare, Luisa María Alcalde Luján, highlighted that ELSSA promotes a rapprochement between companies and IMSS, with advice and support to coordinate actions that improve the work environment, productivity, health and well-being of people, accidents and illnesses are prevented, since the best asset that companies have is their workers.

Through a video message, the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer Varela, pointed out that it is a priority to guarantee health and safety in the work environment both for the personnel who are on the front line of medical care and for those who work in the different areas of the economy and are exposed to a greater or lesser extent to work risks. He stressed that it is necessary to reinforce the culture of prevention with a public health perspective and actions focused on addressing the main risks in companies and small businesses.

Also by video message, the President of the Senate of the Republic, Olga Sánchez Cordero, highlighted that with the implementation of ELSSA, Social Security promotes a risk prevention and management policy in companies, an important action considering that the Organization of the United Nations (UN) estimates that due to 19 risk factors, 1.9 million deaths are generated in the world, and that 360 million non-fatal accidents occur that exceed four days of incapacity.

On his occasion, the president of the Business Coordinating Council, Francisco Cervantes Díaz, expressed that one of the priorities in the strategic agenda of the CCE is health, we must go further, because Social Security has everything to become a truly effective platform of social security and public prevention policies.

For his part, the president of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of Mexico (CONCAMIN), José Antonio Abugaber Andonie, emphasized that the signing of this agreement for safety in the work environment will benefit 21 million workers and their families, as well as a million companies.

He recalled that companies were able to transform workplaces into safe spaces to avoid contagion, in addition to training more than 18 million people in CLIMSS courses to learn about and adopt measures to prevent reaching a hospital.

Representing the general secretary of the Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), Carlos Aceves del Olmo, José Luis Carazo Preciado, pointed out that the strategy is a far-reaching act for social security, which arises as a response to the serious problem of the health, safety and hygiene conditions of the working population, reflects a tripartite effort where notable progress will be seen in the health of working people, in reducing absenteeism and increasing productivity.

In his message, the director of the Office of the International Labor Organization for Mexico and Cuba, Pedro Américo Furtado de Oliveira, highlighted that ELSSA has a prevention approach to strengthen the health of more than 20 million people currently affiliated with IMSS. “This program empowers workers so that, together with employers, they become agents for the promotion of positive health and safety practices.”

Meanwhile, the president of the National Institute for Women, Nadine Gasman Zylbermann, endorsed that Inmujeres joins this IMSS initiative because it is interested in making it a comprehensive Strategy for the lives of working women. “With this we will be part of the synergy of the actions coordinated by the IMSS to achieve the sum of efforts with the co-responsible health sectors.”

On his occasion, the director of the IMSS AC Foundation, Jesús Vizcarra Calderón, emphasized that ELSSA will be a high-impact means to promote health and well-being in the workplace, “today we are presented with a historic opportunity to lay the foundations , strengthen health education, privilege prevention and focus on early diagnosis”.

They attended as special guests, from the government sector Alejandro Salafranca Vázquez, head of the Decent Work Unit of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS); José Ignacio Santos Preciado, secretary of the General Health Council; Hanna Woloski Álvarez, general director of Institutional Strategy of the Ministry of Health; local deputies and government officials from Nuevo León; representatives from the business sector of CAINTRA, Bimbo, FNSI, Concanaco, Concamin, CCE, Grupo Arca, CMIC, CTM, Femsa; trade union representatives and members of civil society.

In addition, the 35 heads of the Decentralized Administrative Operation Bodies (OOAD) of the IMSS in the country, and the regulatory directors of Social Security.