Maj. Gen. Khalifa Hareb Al Khaili, Chairman of the Institutional Development Council at the Ministry of Interior, opened the virtual workshop organized by the General Directorate for Strategy and Performance Development represented by the Quality Management Center for Environment, Health and Safety.
The workshop titled "Health and safety in the workplace" was held via video-conference technology and coincided with the celebration the World Day for Health and Safety at Work, which falls annually on April 28. The day is marked to embody the culture of prevention, occupational health and safety, and promote a decent, healthy and safe work environment.
In his speech on this occasion, Al Khaili stated that marking the World Day for Health and Safety at Work aims to strengthen the tripartite national dialogue represented in adopting safe practices in the workplace and highlight the role played by countries in undertaking occupational safety and health services. It also aims to prepare for the future in relation to occupational health and safety management policies at the institutional and national levels and raise awareness about applying safe practices in the workplace.
He stressed that the Ministry of Interior, under the direction of police chiefs, pays great attention to the issue of occupational health and safety. For this reason, the Ministry adopted a general policy for the environment, occupational health and safety pursuant to the directives of the federal government. This policy seeks to reduce the negative impacts on the environment within the scope of the Ministry’s operations, and to be in the forefront of the best sustainable environmental practices. The Ministry is also keen to carry out all its operations responsibly in line with its vision in accordance with environmental, health and occupational safety laws, thus applying the best and latest global practices which put everybody’s safety as a top priority.
Al Khaili expressed his hope that this workshop would contribute to enhancing the occupational health and safety policy espoused by the Ministry as an approach and culture, promote the positive behaviors of workers and secure a healthy environment for them.
After Al Khaili’s speech, the workshop proceeded, as Dr. Sumaya Mohamed Al Beloshi, Director of Nursing Department at the Emirates Health Services Corporation and Chairwoman of the National Committee for Nursing in the UAE, gave a presentation in which she addressed the concept of occupational health and its objectives, the importance of health education in the field of occupational health, the factors affecting it, potential risks and how to prevent them. She also talked about the importance of health detection of occupational diseases and the conduct of occupational health check as well as means and methods of enhancing occupational health.