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The vital role business leaders can play in keeping workers safe from injury or ill health will be discussed at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health's (IOSH) sixth annual Middle East conference in Dubai later this month.
The conference, held at The Address Dubai Marina, between 9.30am and 4.30pm on Wednesday 29 April, will see expert speakers reveal how employers have already made big strides towards preventing workers from being harmed, using international and regional case studies.
Topics will include the challenges in the utilities sector, and handling accident and regulatory investigations. There will also be information on current initiatives, while delegates will have the chance to form new ideas.
The event comes exactly a year since IOSH launched its UAE branch, at the 2014 conference, with the intention of aiding the area's safety and health practitioners to cut work-related accidents and illnesses.
Maisaa Nasrallah, chair of the branch, said the event will reflect on the important role leadership plays in the successful development and implementation of safety and health policies as well as what can be done to take this forward.
She said: "With an ever-developing skyline, the UAE has witnessed extensive developments over the past years. More recently, Dubai embarked on a great challenge to develop a 438-hectare site for Expo 2020, which will host an estimated 25 million visits during the event.
"We recognise that those working on such developments face a daily risk and that it is important that everything possible is done to safeguard them. That is what the UAE branch and other IOSH branches in the Middle East are working to address, in conjunction with the UAE government and other organisations in the region.
"We want people to go out to work knowing that they will be safe and there is no threat to their health. Big strides are being made towards meeting this aim, but we do not want to rest on our laurels. We are determined to continue our efforts to make workplaces in the UAE and wider region safer and healthier."
Significant improvements have been made across many industries in the Middle East, where the average number of working days lost to an incident dropped from 26.2 in 2012 to 13.6 in 2013.
The Abu Dhabi Environment, Health and Safety Center (OSHAD) - the conference's platinum sponsor - is one of many bodies which have worked with IOSH to bring about such strides. OSHAD's Director General Dr Jaber Eidha Al Jaberi will deliver the event's keynote address.
The conference will also see the next stage of IOSH's No Time to Lose occupational cancer campaign revealed.
The event will be opened by IOSH President Ian Harper, who said: "The Middle East Conference is one of the flagship events in the IOSH calendar. A huge amount of progress has been made in the field of occupational safety and health in recent years. The conference will focus on this and look at how further improvements can be made."
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IOSH is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. With 44,000 members in 100 countries, we're the world's biggest professional health and safety organisation.
We set standards, and support, develop and connect our members with resources, guidance, events and training. We're the voice of the profession, and campaign on issues that affect millions of working people.
IOSH was founded in 1945 and is a registered charity with international NGO status.
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Marcus Boocock, Media Officer, +44 (0)116 257 3139 or +44 (0)798 000 4474, or marcus.boocock@iosh.co.uk
© Press Release 2015
