Abu Dhabi: The Health Authority — Abu Dhabi (HAAD), announced that over 465 companies, with over 800,000 workers in 4,500 worksites and 1,800 labour accommodations have completed the Safety in the Heat awareness campaign.
The campaign carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour aimed at discussing heat stress and its prevention among employers and workers.
"Improving work conditions by implementing correct health and safety measures will not only decrease heat-related illnesses but will also improve health and safety standards and ensure the welfare of our workers. We are proud of the results achieved so far, which would not have been realised without the collaboration and participation from government and private companies in the ‘Safety in the Heat' 2009 summer programme," said Zaid Al Siksek, CEO of HAAD.
The Safety in the Heat programme included training packs, DVD videos, over 63,000 worker and supervisor pamphlets, and 13,000 posters in five different languages. Water coolers were also installed in smaller companies.
The "Safety in the Heat" campaign attracted attention not only in Abu Dhabi and the UAE but the www.haad-safe.ae website also had 19,000 website views from 96 countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United States, India, UK, Oman, Germany and Bahrain.
Meanwhile, (HAAD), also coordinated two training sessions for doctors and nurses on the administration of the H1N1 vaccine, with more to follow.
The first session, held on Friday at the Disease Prevention and Screening Centre (DPSC), covered the administration of the vaccine for a specific number of nurses. Training of DPSC staff was a top priority as pilgrims attending Haj receive their vaccinations at the centre.
Dr Badreyya Al Shehi, Senior Officer for Vaccines, said: ‘Immediate training of these health care providers is vital to enable the vaccination of Haj pilgrims."
