HE Energy and Industry Minister Opens QP's Occupational Health Conference

Doha, March 20 (QNA) - HE Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, who is also Qatar Petroleum's Chairman and managing director, inaugurated here Tuesday, the 1st Qatar Petroleum Occupational Health (QPOH) Conference in the presence of a large number of experts , state officials and more than 250 delegates together with some 24 distinguished experts in the field of occupational health, on the regional and international scale. In his keynote address , HE al sada highlighted the corporation's strong commitment to international standards in occupational health practice. ''This event clearly reflects the prime importance accorded by QP to all issues and challenges related to occupational health management in all areas of our operations'', HE the minister said. "" this conference also signified just how serious we are in dealing with all types of occupational health risks and in implementating effective occupational health programmes to always ensure the safety and well-beuing of our employees as well as those of our contractors , subsidiaries and joint ventue partners'', he added. Organized by QP s Medical Services Department in partnership with the Corporate HSE Department, the 1st Qatar Petroleum Occupational Health Conference is being held under the theme,'' towards a healthoer workforce '' and the event is under the patronage of HE Dr. Al Sada . HE the minister further said,'' the conference scheduled until March 21 at sharq village and Spa, has attracted the participation of up to 24 regional and international occupational health experts who will be presenting a total of 28 technical papers over the next two days. In addition to the paper presentations, the first QPOH conference also features an integrated panel session , poster presentations , group discussions , workshops and case studies discussions. It will feature professional paper presentations, panel discussions, networking sessions, lectures, case study discussions, and interactive workshops. Occupational health during the month of Ramadan will be one of the main focuses of the conference, Al Sada added. Other topics will be chronic diseases that hit workers at sea sites, how to deal with occupational fatigue and training in the field of industrial safety. The Minister said that the list of speakers include nine experts in the field of occupational health, in QP's medical services department. There will also be speakers from RasGas, QatarGas, Qatar Shell, the Supreme Council of Health, in addition to lecturers from Australia, Brunei, Iran, Philippines, South Korea, UK and the UAE. For his part, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Jaideh , the director of medical services in Qatar Petroleum has welcomed in a similar address the conference participants and gave a presentation on its goals, pointing to the great opportunities the conference offerrs to discuss important issues relating to occupational health as well as access to the latest developments in this area, the matter which would allow the acquisition of more knowledge and contribute to improving the performance of their duties as experts and specialists in occupational health. Specifically, the conference will focus on topics, including workplace health promotion programs, the cardiovascular disease burden in the workplace, functional capacity assessment, work-related stress in the oil & gas industry, industrial hygiene regulatory framework and compliance, and sickness absence management, he added. During the conference some scientific researches will be presented and discussed in order to find the best practices and innovative programs for safeguarding the health and safety of all QP's employees as well as it's joint venture partners and contractors. During the opening session an introductory and a documentary film was projected and focussed on the history of the petroleum industry in Qatar and the health services provided by Qatar Petroleum and its subsidiaries and their evolution from one stage to another . Following the opening inauguration HE Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, toured the associated exhibition which displays about 15 of the posters card and working papers by a number of experts and listened to explanations provided by the owners of these scientific specialized papers in the field of occupational health. (QNA)