Workforce safety top priority in Qatar: Dr Al Sada

H E Dr Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Opec President has reinforced that the country cannot compromise on the safety and security of its workforce. Safety and security of workforce in all walks of life, including oil and gas industries, is the prime concern of Qatar as well as other GCC countries, Dr Al Sada said in his opening address at the Gulf Safety Forum, yesterday.
“The safety of all workforce across industries is the most important element which cannot be undermined at any circumstances. Therefore, it is the key priority of all public and private sector companies in the region, including Qatar…. Qatar as well as other GCC member States have promulgated a number of legislations aiming to reduce the number of incidence and improve the administrative system with regard to safety of workers,” the Minister said.
Dr Al Sada noted that effective implementation of several measures and initiatives, including education, training and awareness programmes, which have been made mandatory for almost all kinds of projects, which is helping to improve the specifications and standards.
The two-day event, which is being held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, was attended by scores of experts and industry leaders.
Also present were Abdulaziz bin Hamad Al Ageel, Secretary General of the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC); Colin Chapman, President of Euro Petroleum Consultants, who are the main organisers of the event.
Al Ageel (of GOIC) in his address also noted that safety has become at the heart of all activities of daily living and economics throughout the world. In this regard, GCC countries stepped up and  endeavoured to achieve the zero-injury objective. This trend was implemented in all sectors where the safety of individuals, facilities and environment has become a prerequisite for productive and economic activities, industrial, education and healthcare facilities and various other activities.
“Today, GCC countries’ particular interest in safety is revealed through several examples to include the booming fire safety market valued at more than $1.4bn. In fact, experts project an increase in the size of Gulf fire safety market to more than $3bn by 2020, to keep up with the growing infrastructure and manufacturing sectors,” said Al Ageel.
He said that experts from the industry and academia will discuss, during the event, key challenges to safety technologies and strategies to improve safety systems in the region and accomplish the zero injury objective.