Seminar highlights safety and security standards at industrial firms in Oman

Muscat: A seminar entitled, “Safety and Security Standards at Industrial Firms” was organised on Wednesday by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) in cooperation with Capital Market Authority (CMA) under the auspices of Abdullah bin Salim Al Salmi, executive president of CMA.
The seminar underlined the importance of providing insurance coverage for industrial concerns and small and medium enterprises, which require the provision of appropriate security and safety standards due to the risks involved, further to establishing the concepts of occupational safety for the employees of such enterprises.
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Speaking at the event, Musallam bin Mohammed Al Shehri, assistant chief executive officer, Operations, PEIE, stressed that the seminar aims to bring together specialists and those interested in the field of security and safety to unite efforts made in both the public and private sectors.
The seminar also aspires to highlight the significance of security and safety standards in industrial units and existing projects. "We also aim to examine the availability of these standards and the commitment and requirements adopted in this area. The event also stresses on the necessity of have insurance coverage for these firms and projects, so they are compatible with a variety of risks, in addition to spreading preventive awareness and instilling the concept of occupational safety among employees in the industrial sector," he pointed out.
Al Shehri added: "The field of safety and security is a key one for the prevention of accidents or minimisation of their occurrence in addition to the protection of lives and properties. This requires the development of plans, programmes and necessary requirements to achieve the desired objectives. The seminar seeks to disseminate awareness among those in charge of industrial firms about the measures and requirements of safety and security and identify potential risks in the work environment. The event also emphasises the importance of protecting industrial firms being a vital source for the national economy, in addition to providing a safe work environment, the need to comply with prevention guidelines, and how to cope in the event of any incident and reduce their occurrence probability."
"PEIE works constantly in various industrial estates to spread prevention awareness, considering the priority of protecting lives, properties and projects through a variety of seminars, workshops and lectures organised by PEIE in cooperation with the concerned bodies, including the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance. Theoretical and practical training is being undertaken to deepen the concept of industrial safety. With regards to the insurance aspect, PEIE, in cooperation with CMA (being the legislative, regulatory and supervisory body for the capital market and insurance sectors in the Sultanate) had invited insurance companies due to the importance of enhancing an effective partnership between these companies and the industrial firms in safety and security aspects, and the procedures for insurance coverage," Al Shehri stated.
A number of papers were delivered during the event by public, private and civil society institutions highlighting a variety of topics, including the concept of safety and security in industrial firms; the importance of safety and security requirements; industrial fire and prevention measures; requirements of reinsurance companies; safety of lives and public and private properties; how to face natural disasters; protection of economic wealth, including factories and utilities; practices that help prevent an outbreak of fire; evaluation of risks and their types in terms of chemical and physical hazards; among other topics.
Delivering his presentation, Lt. Saud bin Rashid Al Saadi, officer in the Industrial Protection Department at the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA), underscored the importance of preventing fire incidents at industrial facilities.
He also emphasised on the need for equipping buildings and facilities with alarms/warning, control and prevention systems in a way to protect these buildings and their occupants from fire incidents.
"Early warning systems are essential for effective buildings’ evacuation," he noted. Al Saadi also informed that the Industrial Protection Department at PACDA is specialised in studying plans of industrial units, offering technical advice, participating in examining fire incidents that occur in the factories, and providing assistance for controlling the incidents if necessary, in addition to performing periodic inspections at the companies and factories and other private units to explore the application of technical and prevention measures.
Al Saadi also presented a line-up of recommendations on the need to develop prevention requirements in the units provided by the companies accredited by the authority; provision of sufficient roads for the reach of civil defence vehicles and equipment; provision of water tanks used only for fire-fighting; performing routine maintenance of fire-fighting equipment; executing an emergency plan to evacuate employees during fire incidents; training staff on evacuation routes on a regular basis on how to use the equipment; following safety procedures at work; and the appointment of safety and security official in the units.
Ali Al Lawati of the Oman Insurance Association delivered a presentation in which he stressed that insurance companies need to look into the aspect of insurance for industrial firms, not as purely commercial, but also as a support for the economic sector, being an essential aspect of the national economy.
"The insurance companies need to interact with these kinds of risks very carefully while completing insurance coverage for these firms, as well as study the extent of the companies’ commitment to the basic requirements of providing a safe and secure work environment for industrial enterprises and their employees," Al Lawati added.
On his part, Abdallah Badaoui of the Oman Reinsurance Company explained that reinsurance companies, such as the Oman Reinsurance Company (OMANRe) are present in Oman as a supporter of the sector.
OMANRe aims to deliver client-specific solutions, and transact the conventional line of businesses; compliance with corporate governance rules is a critical issue for the management and shareholders. "Owners of industrial units should be aware of the risks that could come from their neighbouring firms, especially in the industrial estates. Therefore, insurance of the units, either from fire incidents or from financial and human repercussions, should be mandatory to protect the facilities and avoid total bankruptcy for business owners.
Samara Salah, director of Business Development and Training at Samara Training Services, highlighted the significance of having successful HSE system requirements.
She noted that HSE engineering intends to provide safe facilities of work (building and equipment) and safe systems and procedures of work to ensure that people use the facilities safely.
Salah also emphasised on the objectives of performing HSE training for the staff in order to follow the procedures, inspect the facilities, and report gaps to the management. She also said that investing in HSE is vital for moral, financial and legal reasons. The presentations were followed by a discussion session that highlighted the theme of the seminar.