Presentation by prof Nabil Y Kurashi, Wonca East Meditterenean, dept of family medicine, university of Damman at the WHO/TNO/Dutchgovernment Congres 'Connecting Health and Labour' 29 - 1 December 2012

1. Empowering Workers
through Occupational Health & and Safety Training:
The East Mediterrenean Status
Nabil Y. Kurashi
Regional President
Wonca East Mediterrenean
Professor of Family Medicine EAST MEDITERRANEAN
University of Dammam

2. Empowering Workers
How many times have you seen a welder
working without safety mask on?
How many times have you seen a furniture
workers spray paint without safety masks
on?
How many times have you seen a worker
doing road repairs without ample covering
under the 42 degrees centigrade heat?

3. Empowering Workers
I saw these scenarios many times
and so did you!!!

4. Empowering Workers
This situation continues to happen in EMR and I am afraid will
continue to happen unless the workers:
are empowered to understand their need for
occupational health and safety
have the knowledge of occupational health and
safety principles
are trained to practice occupational health and safety
have workplaces that put occupational health and safety
management systems in place

5. Empowering Workers
There are numbers of occupational health and safety
management systems which can be applied in the EMR
workplace, among which are:
• British Standard BS 8800:2004 “Guide to Occupational
health and safety management system”,
• “Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series
OHSAS 18001” International Labor Office ILO-OSH
2001 “Guidelines on occupational safety and health
management systems”

6. Empowering Workers
Each of these management systems is based on the “plan-
do-check-act” management model and embodies the
principle of continual improvement as exemplified in the
ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 families of standards.
There are no fundamental differences between any of
these management systems, and there are large degree of
overlap in system elements and most are common
requirements.

7. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Oman
Legislation: General safety, health and conditions of work
Law Governing Compensation for Occupational Injuries and
Illnesses, issued in accordance to Sultani Decree No. 40 of
1976. CIS 93-1
Present cooperation with WHO in strengthening the
technical normative capacity of the MOH to set health
standards and guidelines to protect the health of the
population from environmental hazards and promoting and
monitoring effective occupational health and safety
practices.

8. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Oman
Major Organization Practicing OHS in Oman: Petroleum
Development Oman (PDO) through Health, Safety and
Environment (HSE) Management System
OHS training by the Environmental and Occupational
Health Department of Ministry of Health in the Sultanate
of Oman, in cooperation with some OSH training
organizations such as Vocational Education and Training
Programme for the Member Countries of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC-VET)

9. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Saudi Arabia
• Legislation: General Regulations for rules and procedures for
implementation of the occupational hazards branch and
implementing decisions
• Regulations for annuities and compensation payment rules and
procedures (Annuities Branch) 1984, CIS 97-2 rural safety,
health and conditions of health.
Major Organization Practicing OHS in Saudi Arabia: Saudi Aramco, SABIC
OHS training: Diploma Program by Arab Development Institute (ADI), Short
term courses by ADI and other training organizations

10. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Qatar
Legislation: General safety, health and conditions of health.
Labor Law Articles 98,99,100, 101
Major Organization Practicing OHS in Qatar:
 Qatar Petroleum
Qatar Petrochemical Company
Training:
Training courses in Occupational Health, Safety,
Environmental and Food Safety- Doha Industrial
Safety Services (DISS)

11. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Bahrain
Legislation: General safety, health and conditions of
health.
Labor Law
Major Organization Practicing OHS in Bahrain:
Bahrain National Gas Petroleum
Dockyards
Short term courses or training by demand through
training organizations:
RRC Middle East -RRC Training and Consultancy AETC
Arabian East Training Centre for Health & Safety-OSHO
National Occupational Safety & Health Centre

12. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Jordan
Legislation: General safety, health and conditions of health.
Labor Law
Ministry of Health department of occupational health
guidelines and monitoring
Major Organization Practicing OHS in Jordan:
Government offices and agencies
Some large businesses and industries
Training:
Short term courses or training by demand through training
organizations-

13. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Egypt
Legislation
Labor law
As of February 2010, Decree No. 25 of 2010 requires
companies employing 50 or more employees to set up a
functional agency and one or more committee specialized in
occupational health and safety
Since 23 April 2010, Industrial facilities have been required to
comply with OHAS 18001
Major Organization Practicing OHS: Required for every workplace
Education and Training
University degrees in Bachelor, Master and Doctor of OHS
OHS training organizations –offering short term courses

14. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
Generally in EMR …
• OSH Legislation is included in the laws of all Arab States
under study, however in a varying level of details, integration
of OSH provisions into the studied countries’ legislation
varies as well.
• In some countries it is relatively as old as the endorsement
of the country’s constitution, while in others, it’s relatively
new with a new Labor code, or a recently updated one.
• All countries have amended their legislations and Labor
codes in various levels, to match International standards and
improve the working conditions of the Labor forces.

15. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
• Work related risks not covered by legislation in other
countries
• For legislation that covers OSH risks; it is noticed that
priorities vary for different countries, and accordingly,
countries may exclude or disregard certain OSH aspects.
Examples:
• In countries such as Palestine, the provisions on pathology
risks such as HIV and carcinogens at the working
environments are missing in the legislation.

16. Status of Occupational Health
and Safety (OHS) in EMR
• Exposure limits to radiation and sunrays are also
missing in some legislation, such as in Qatar and
Jordan.
• Kuwait, Bahrain, and others, exclude the public
and certain informal sectors such as agriculture,
from their legislation.

17. Empowering Workers
Empowering the
worker in OHS is
making them aware of
their rights under their
country’s laws

18. Empowering Workers
It is teaching them the basic principles of OHS and to
safeguard their health and safety in the workplace.
It is making available to them OHS training avenues
Most important of all, workers must be given
occupational health and safety evidence-based and
patient centered-healthcare which allows for periodic
early detection for occupational health diseases.

19. Empowering Workers
An ounce of caution
is better than a pound of cure...
Occupational Health and Safety
is the Best Policy…

20. Thank
EAST MEDITERRANEAN

21. The 1st Wonca EMR Conference
The First Family Medicine
Congress and Exhibition
Wonca East Mediterranean Region
EAST MEDITERRANEAN
December 17-19, 2011
Dubai International
Convention & Exbition Centre
Dubai, UAE