Dubai: A safe work environment should be at the heart of public health and social policies in the UAE, experts said on Thursday.
Job stress in office settings and risky structures in construction settings, are estimated to be the two leading occupational hazards, they said.
On the sidelines of the opening day of the 1st Arab World Conference on Public Health, experts said there is a need to strengthen health surveillance and notification systems for occupational diseases and injuries, including physical and mechanical hazards as well as psychological and social issues such as stress, violence and harassment.
Held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance, and Chairman of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the three-day conference is a regional platform for exchange of knowledge, experience and success stories on key public health issues in Arab countries.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the risk factors in a workplace can lead to cancers, accidents, musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory diseases, hearing loss, circulatory diseases, stress related disorders and communicable diseases among others.
Work-related stress as an occupational hazard, states the international body, can be caused by poor work organisation, poor work, poor management, unsatisfactory working conditions, and lack of support from colleagues and supervisors.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dr Wasif Mohammad Alam, director of public health and safety at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) and conference speaker said that work stress in office settings and risky structures in construction settings are estimated to be leading occupational hazards.
Dr Alam explained that occupational hazards could be psychosocial (violence, stress), biological (communicable diseases), chemical, physical (noise, radiation, slippery surfaces), ergonomic (heavy lifting), and electrical, among others.
He said that globally, there is a shortage of occupational health and safety expertise with the Arab countries reporting a higher shortage. He reasoned that the shortage in expertise is due to the high percentage of workers in construction.
“There aren’t enough trained and qualified occupational health and safety personnel to cater to the high number of occupational diseases and injuries. In the Arab countries especially, the demand is higher due to the huge construction sector,” Dr Alam said.
Dr David Cheng Min Huang, senior officer at Occupational and Environmental Health Section, Public Health and Research Division, Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD), and conference speaker, told Gulf News that there is a need to strengthen health surveillance of working populations through notification and reporting systems.
“We need the data to fully understand the magnitude of work-related risks and then tailor campaigns and programmes towards prevention and management. For instance work stress is linked to suicide; data on incidence of work stress will be helpful towards prevention,” Dr Huang said.
