Fleming Gulf's fourth edition of Middle East OHS Strategy Forum kicked off yesterday at Park Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi. Day one commenced with a key session on driving preventive and control measures for occupational illnesses from Dr. Muhammad Wasif Alam, Director Public Health and Safety Department at Dubai Health Authority-Head Quarter.

Major highlights of day one were the case studies and an open discussion. Case study on Factors affecting VO2 Max for fire fighters – a study in QP industrial cities conducted by Dr. Rakhmat Soebekti, Lead Medical Officer, Healthcare Department at Qatar Petroleum and Establishing and Sustaining Occupational Health Culture at Petrorabigh : A proactive approach conducted by Moustafa A. Awad, Occupational Health Section Head Environment & Health Department at Petrorabigh. Professor Tar-Ching Aw, Director at Institute of Public Health spearheaded an open discussion on how to create a competent workforce.

Day one sessions also witnessed speakers from ADNOC, Etihad Airways, ADCO, The Petroleum Institute and BST - Safety Behavioral Partner for the event.

Today's session started with opening remarks from Dr. Rob Cooling, Vice Chair for IOSH UAE. He will also deliver a session later today on driving health and safety change through effective communication. Abdulaziz Hussni Zurub, Director, EHS Division, Abu Dhabi City Municipality will be throwing light on developing EHS management plan for the Construction sector. A session on managing challenges related to occupational health and safety in high risk industries will be presented by Dr. Maha Saleh AlShehab, Board Member for Capital Secretariat Council Bahrain.

Sultan Zahrani, Director, Traffic Safety Signature Program at Saudi Aramco will emphasize on implementing comprehensive road safety management system for safe transportation of hazardous products. Another sessions looking into Contractor Management will be delivered by Eyad Sallam, Head of Safety and Quality Department at KONE Corporation. It will be followed by a session on Leadership & Safety Culture by Bob Arnold, Health Safety Director, Europe and Canada, Brookfield Multiplex & Vice Chair of IOSH , Construction Group, UK. Risk Management approach towards the QHSE IMS at Al Jaber Shipping and Marine Works LLC will be last session for the day presented by Marcéll Greeff, QHSE Manager, Al Jaber Shipping and Marine Works.

Day two will conclude with a closing panel at the end where attendees will be seen discussing best practices to recover from major accidents and build a stronger organisation after terminal errors.

The third day of the forum will feature post conference workshops. The first workshop will be conducted by Marcéll Greeff, QHSE Manager, Al Jaber Shipping and Marine Works on OHS Culture Developing tools. Followed by a workshop on Behavior based safety by Daryl Wake, Consultant EMEA, BST.

Supported by IOSH, WSO and ISHM, the three day event was supported by leading companies that include : Medgate and Amplivox (Bronze Sponsor); Dickies (Exhibitor); BST (Behavioral Safety Partner) and Enablon (Visiting Partner).