OREANDA-NEWS. May 16, 2013. Qatar Petroleum’s Medical Services Department marked the International Labour Organization’s “World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2013” at QP’s Center for Health and Wellness in Doha.

In line with the global event, the department organized a seminar that featured occupational health experts discussing a wide range of topics related to health and safety in the workplace. The presentations discussed the ILO’s perspectives on occupational diseases worldwide, the programs and initiatives currently being implemented by the Medical Services Department, and the promotion of a safety and health culture within the corporation. There were also presentations on safety observation and checklists, incident reporting, and the roles of HSE (health, safety and environment) regional teams.

In his speech on the occasion, Dr. Ahmed Al-Badran, Acting Manager for Medical Services of QP, said: “We have made good progress in our commitment to health and safety and in our efforts to establish and build a safety culture under the guidance of Mr. Ahmad Ali Al-Mawlawi, Director Administration, and as strongly emphasized by H.E Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry, that health and safety must always be at the cornerstone of our operations.”

Dr. Al-Badran further said that in partnership with QP’s Corporate HSE Department and the HSE Regulations and Enforcement Directorate, the Medical Services Department fully supports the corporation’s health and safety initiatives by developing an environment for learning and promoting a safety culture with the cooperation of its staff who are considered a valuable asset of the department.

First organized by the ILO in 2003, the “World Day for Safety and Health at Work” is an international event that aims to promote the prevention of work-related accidents and diseases worldwide. The theme of the event this year is the “Prevention of Occupational Diseases.”

According to the ILO, occupational diseases are presently the leading causes of work-related deaths worldwide. It pointed out that, out of the 2.34 million occupational fatalities recorded every year, up to 2.02 million deaths are due to various types of work-related diseases and only 321,000 are caused by accidents.

The ILO said that the inadequate prevention of occupational diseases negatively affects  not only on workers and their families but also society at large due to the tremendous costs that it generates, such as in loss of productivity. It stressed that prevention is more effective and less costly than treatment and rehabilitation.