Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) will host its third International Occupational Health Conference on November 13 and 14, 2011 at the Movenpick Hotel, Oud Metha, Dubai. To be attended by international experts, the event will put the spotlight on the importance of good occupational health practices and promote the implementation of effective occupational health programmes at the workplace.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), an estimated 160 million people suffer from work-related diseases and over 270 million fatal and non-fatal work-related accidents are reported every year. ILO estimates that nearly 4% of the world's annual GDP is lost due to occupational diseases and accidents, in addition to organisations having to bear the cost of early retirements, loss of skilled staff, absenteeism and high insurance premiums. 

Mr Saeed Abdullah Khoory, Chief Executive Officer, ENOC, said: "Occupational health management is a priority for ENOC, and is part of our corporate social responsibility to our employees and the society at large. Many of the occupational health issues can be avoided by implementing scientific prevention, reporting and inspection practices."

He added: "With the Middle East region focusing on infrastructure development and diversifying its revenue sources, it is imperative that modern occupational health management practices are integrated into an organisation's operations. Our annual International Occupational Health Conference aims to put the spotlight on this and seeks to address the preventable economic losses and negative social impact that health related issues at the workplace cause."

The ENOC International Occupational Health Conference will demonstrate what good occupational health is and how to implement effective occupational health programmes. The event has applied for accreditation from the Dubai Health Authority and all participants will be issued certificates of attendance. 

Prof. Markku Sainio, Adjunct Professor and Chief Neurologist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki, Finland, will deliver the first keynote address on 'Chronic solvent encephalopathy - lessons learned'. 

Other international experts who will present their insights on modern and scientific occupational health programmes are: Waddah Ghanem, Group EHSQ Director for the ENOC Group (Occupational Health Management - Challenges of Implementation), Prof. Tar Ching Aw, Professor & Head of the Department of Community Medicine, UAE University (The use of qualitative methods in occupational health research); Prof. Noor Hassim, an international expert in occupational stress and risk factors of cardio-vascular diseases (Stress and coping strategies among House Officers in Malaysia); Dr Ataollah Seyfouri, Senior Medical Compliance Officer, ENOC (Stress in petrol station forecourt workers); Jan Maw, Advisor for Public Health Nursing at the Royal College of Nursing, London (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for the workplace); and Dr Nomy Ahmed of Emirates Airline Medical Clinic (The older worker - health evaluation of the over 60s).

On Nov. 14, the conference will host workshops on 'Occupational Illness in a Cylinder Manufacturing Plant,' led by Dr Mark Newson-Smith, Chief Medical Officer at ENOC; and Nasser Ali, Industrial Hygienist at ENOC. 

This will be followed by a keynote presentation by Prof. Jens Bonde, Professor of Occupational Medicine at the Institute of Public Health, Copenhagen University on 'Reproductive Hazards in the Workplace.' Other speakers include: Dr John Schneider of the UAE University (Occupational health for expatriate workers); Dr Laura Tepelus, Occupational Health Physician at Occupational Health International Clinic, Branch of Gulf Healthcare International (Heavy metals and human health); and Dr Tom Loney, Department of Community Medicine, UAE University (Physiological assessment in occupational health)