“SHIFT STORIES WITH FOREMAN GÜVEN” Interactive Theatre Met Mine Employees for the Last Time in Çayırhan Ankara.

“SHIFT STORIES WITH FOREMAN GÜVEN” of the MISGEP Interactive Theatre Tour which is carried out under the “Interactive Training Seminars through Drama” activity of Improving Occupational Health and Safety Especially in the Mining Sector Project (MISGEP), financed by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey and carried out by the Directorate General of Occupational Health and Safety visited 58 mining pits located throughout 28 provinces of Turkey from the eastern-most parts to the west, reached over 10.000 mine employees and met with them for the last time at Nallıhan District of Ankara.  

Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security Prof. Dr. Lutfihak ALPKAN, Mayor of Nallıhan İsmail ÖNTAŞ, Director General of Occupational Health and Safety Mr. Cafer UZUNKAYA, Delegation of the European Union to Turkey Sector Manager for Social Policies Mr. Mehmet Caner DEMİR and General Manager of Coal Enterprises Inc. (KİAŞ) Mr. Süleyman KARAKOÇ attended the seminar which took place on the grass field in the Çayırhan neighbourhood of Nallıhan province.

During his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security Prof. Dr. Lutfihak ALPKAN stated that with its 17.6 million Euro budget, MISGEP is the biggest in regards to occupational health and safety projects that took place in Turkey, and that the DGOHS regard the activities conducted under the scope of MISGEP highly due to the project’s contributions regarding Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). ALPKAN finished his speech by saying, “Starting with the actors, the director and the producer, I thank all those who contributed to this theatre play which was prepared as an educative tool using drama technique in order to improve our mindset, approach and applications.”    

Mayor of Nallıhan Mr. İsmail ÖNTAŞ remarked on mining activities in Çayırhan region in his speech and said that the mining sector is among the most dangerous lines of work. Mr. İsmail ÖNTAŞ conveyed his wishes for the Interactive Seminars Through Drama conducted under MISGEP to be a blessing for all of Turkey and for the mine employees who serve in the Çayırhan region.

Director General of Occupational Health and Safety Mr. Cafer UZUNKAYA said, “We will be presenting the 58th and the final staging of our theatre play that took place in 28 providences which, we prepared with the drama technique and in the basis of interactive education. I offer my sincerest thanks to all mining enterprises who hosted us and to the team that took part in the realisation of the theatre play. We are organizing events under the scope of our MISGEP Project for occupational health and safety to be adopted not only by our employees but also by our employers. Mr. Cafer UZUNKAYA finished his speech by saying “I wish you all a healthy and fruitful day without accidents or troubles, I fully believe that the efforts we put in for occupational health and safety will be for the best for our country.”   

Approximately 170 employees of KİAŞ attended the event which attracted great attention from the press and mine employees. Participants contributed to the event with their opinions and experiences during the interactive acts of the theatre play.

“SHIFT STORIES WITH FOREMAN GÜVEN” interactive theatre, prepared with MISGEP Interactive Seminars Through Drama, which aims to improve awareness on occupational health and safety, encourage communication and co-operation and to create team spirit among mine employees, covered an approximate distance of 19.000 km, meeting mine employees from 28 provinces during the months of June, July, August and September and October having been to, Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Burdur, Adana, Kayseri, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Giresun, Tokat, Amasya, Zonguldak, Bolu, Eskişehir, Kütahya, Bursa, Çanakkale, Edirne, Adıyaman, Mersin, Niğde, Kastamonu, Hakkari, Siirt, Muğla, İzmir and Ankara.

Interactive Training Seminars Through Drama, developed with the drama technique, which is one of the most effective methods for understanding human behaviour, communication-based topics, and abstract concepts, consists of 8 parts; includes different themes such as on-the-job training in the field of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), personal protective equipment, fortification, prevention of occupational accidents, the psychological state of the employee, the current OHS law, rights, employee representative, rescue and communication. At the end of each act, the audience is included in the play and an interactive play is performed by taking their comments and evaluations