Health and safety awareness has increased exponentially in Qatar over the last few years, primarily due to companies’ own certification and enforcement efforts. This is particularly evident in the construction sector, where leading companies like ASTAD and Hyundai regularly publicize their total man-hours worked without injury. This trend reflects a growing global focus on workplace safety.
At a recent Annual HSE (Health, Safety and Environment) Forum, Kevin Bridges, Vice President of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), provided a global perspective on workplace safety. He stated that 2.3 million people are killed by workplace accidents and diseases each year, 337 million workplace accidents are recorded, and 160 million people are affected by occupational diseases. The cost of these incidents is estimated to be almost 4% of the world’s GDP. Bridges outlined essential elements of process safety to reduce these occurrences, including fostering a strong safety culture, ensuring employee competency, balancing risks with costs, and aiming for high productivity with zero accidents.
The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) is further advancing this cause by announcing the first-ever Employee Health and Wellbeing Conference in Qatar. The conference, held in October in Doha under the patronage of HE Abdullah Bin Khalid Al Qahtani, Minister of Public Health, is part of Qatar’s National Vision 2030, which aims to improve the health of all citizens and residents. Dr. Sheikh Mohamed Al Thani, Director of the Public Health Department at the SCH, highlighted that with Qatar’s rapid business and economic growth, a healthy and productive workforce is the country’s most valuable asset.
The Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRC) is also a key player in this initiative. Its Secretary-General, Saleh Ali Al Muhannadi, explained that the QRC, with its long history in healthcare, runs numerous educational and social programs. As an auxiliary to the State of Qatar, the QRC seeks to enhance public health in line with the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. The organization has been instrumental in introducing “Wekaya” (Arabic for “protection”), a program for the blue-collar sector.
Launched two years prior, Wekaya aims to preserve worker health and encourage healthy behavior by offering free testing for influenza, tuberculosis, and food-borne illnesses. To date, the program has treated 10,000 individuals at a dedicated facility in Doha’s Industrial Area and provides workers with bags containing essential health items.
