ENOC hosts GCC occupational health meet

The three-day conference titled 'Making it happen - 'development and implementation of occupational health practice' is being held under the patronage of His Excellency Humaid Al Qutami, UAE Minister of Health, who will also be present as the guest of honour at the event.

International consultants as well as the region's best-known experts and professionals in Occupational health and Hygiene will address the event held from May 6 to 8 at the Movenpick Hotel, Dubai.

Participants at the conference received a clear understanding of the importance and benefits of implementing occupational health standards in establishments and industrial operations.

The conference also provided guidelines on applying such standards and an insight into the best practices followed worldwide in this vital area of industrial and commercial operations.

Commenting on the importance of the conference, Saeed Abdullah Khoory, Group Chief Executive of ENOC said: "Health-related issues cause significant economic loss and often strains relations between businesses and the community.

Good occupational health on the other hand can boost productivity and employee satisfaction as well as help businesses bond with the community.

"ENOC maintains and updates various systems and protocols across its operations to ensure the health, safety and well-being of employees. As an industry leader we also consider it our responsibility to provide and support forums like 'Making it happen' as these will enable businesses to share and learn from exemplary practices and initiatives".

The experts and professionals addressing the conference include: Prof David Koh, National University of Singapore; Air Commodore Bill Coker, Royal Air Force (UK); Dr Ahmed Nabil Abou-Taleb, UAE Ministry of Health; Dr Nomy Waseem Ahmed, Emirates Airline Medical Clinic; Dr Ahmed Boran, Jordan University of Science and Technology; Dr Ghassan Shaker, Preventive Medicine Department, Abu Dhabi; Dr Geoff Helliwell, WellWork Ltd; Darren Joubert, Abu Dhabi Health Authority; Dr Steve Boorman, Royal Mail Group plc (UK); Dr Mark Newson-Smith, ENOC Occupational Health Service Centre, London; Dr Ian Brown, University of Southampton; Brett Young and Khalifa Maskery, Petroleum Development Oman; Vilma Ferguson, Prime Health Group; Amal Mubarak, ADMA-OPCO and Samantha Horseman, Saudi Aramco.

Occupational health professionals and healthcare professionals interested in occupational health were in attendance to get a clear perspective on current and highly relevant topics ranging from health risk assessment, health surveillance, biological monitoring, health informatics, occupational physiotherapy, fitness and the role of academics in employee health.

The Department of Health & Medical Services has extended its accreditation to the conference by awarding up to 18 CME (continuing medical education) hours to participating healthcare professionals.

Waddah Ghanem, EHSQ (Environment, Health, Safety and Quality) Compliance Manager at ENOC said that the conference succeeded in stressing the importance of occupational health as a fundamental right of workers.

"ENOC, while providing a totally safe and secure working environment for its employees, has also been supporting efforts to place occupational health at the centre of any debate on safety," he added.