Forum discusses occupational health and safety aspects in workplaces

Muscat: Dr Hilal bin Ali Al-Sabti, Minister of Health, patronised the opening ceremony of the OQ Occupational Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Symposium, organised by OQ, the global integrated energy group, on September 25.

Held under the theme of “Human Reliability” at Christal Ballroom in Grand Millenium Muscat Hotel, the symposium was part of the efforts exerted by OQ to enhance the occupational health and safety aspects in workplaces. It also aims to boost OQ’s contribution to the occupational health, safety and environmental fields in the society, in collaboration with the public and private sectors to build an integrated occupational health, safety and environment ecosystem in the Sultanate and achieve the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.

The symposium was convened to promote communication and cooperation with partners and contractors to spread the culture of occupational health, safety and environment. It provided an opportunity for international experts in this field to showcase the latest developments in the field of occupational health, safety and environment and to present specialised workshops for persons interested in this field by official speakers at the symposium. The event also sought to enhance and spread the principles of OQ among its partners and contractors in an attempt to consolidate the execution of the group’s strategy related to occupational health, safety and environment.

Ashraf Al-Mamari, Chief Executive for People, Technology and Culture of OQ Group, gave a speech in which he emphasized that the symposium aims to enhance the aspects of prevention of accidents and work dangers to embody the application of national and international occupational health and safety principles. He stressed that OQ seeks to raise public awareness about these principles to avoid anything that might result in casualties caused by accidents in its companies and facilities. This in turn results in maintaining the assets of institutions, protecting the environment and ensuring the sustainability of operations.

Al-Mamari asserted that OQ pays the utmost attention to occupational health, safety and environment at workplaces and adheres to national and international requirements and principles, while fully complying with the approved and required rules and regulations.

He accentuated that the symposium in which about 400 health and safety specialists working at companies operating in the oil, gas and petrochemicals sector reflects OQ’s commitment to contributing to promoting public awareness about occupational health, safety and environment in the Sultanate of Oman. With this regard, he said: “OQ Group organized this symposium to discuss the best ways to improve occupational health, safety, security and environment practices. It also aimed to develop all the necessary frameworks to come up with new ideas that could be applied at different workplaces. The group sought to make use of the latest developments to harness innovation in the fields of health, safety, security and environment to decrease human injuries and financial damages.”