The Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and the National Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health (NIOEH) in Vietnam signed a Cooperation Agreement on September 25, 2006. With this agreement, the parties established The Liberty Mutual Safework Collaborating Center at NIOEH. The Center, which opened in April 2007, provides a forum for academic and technical exchange and collaboration on original research on the causes of occupational injuries in Vietnam. The Center seeks to promote workplace safety in Vietnam and help prevent the financial and social burdens associated with occupational injuries.
The Research Institute formally began its collaborative activities in Vietnam in 2004 with the signing of an official Memorandum of Understanding with the National Institute of Occupational and Environment Health and the Vietnam Occupational Health Association. The agreement laid the foundation for a field study to examine the societal burden of workplace injury in Vietnam. The study provides Vietnam with a model for reporting workplace injuries. As part of this collaboration, the Research Institute also facilitated training of personnel of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and Vietnam Occupational Safety and Health Association (VOSHA) on industrial safety and helped organize workshops on solutions for preventing and reducing occupational accidents in Vietnam.