October 12, 2015, Doha, Qatar:The Employee Health and Wellbeing Conference kicked off yesterday at the Intercontinental Hotel Doha, under the patronage of H.E. Abdulla Bin Khalid Al Qahtani, Minister of Public Health, Doha. Focussing on the theme, “Global Action Plan : Protect Worker Health – Let the Business Thrive”, the conference aims to propagate high quality health care of our major asset – our Human Capital. The three day conference is officially supported by the Supreme Council of Health, Qatar.

The conference opened with a visionary address by Shk. Dr. Mohammed Al-Thani, Director – Public Health Supreme Council of Health. Addressing the idea of endorsing worker health & wellbeing as a corporate & moral value he said “Healthcare in Qatar is changing, and at the center of this change is the National Health Strategy (NHS). Working towards the Qatar National Vision 2030, in particular the Human Development pillar, the Supreme Council of Health is striving hard to ensure that the workers welfare is a top priority for the government. With programs such as the Employee Health and Wellbeing Conference, we aim to educate industries and individuals alike to highlight some of today’s health and wellbeing concerns faced by employees and intiative launch to overcoming them.”

He further stated “'Caring for the Future' is the essence of the ambitious program that Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has embarked on to enhance the wellness of the people of Qatar so that a vibrant, healthy, and productive society can be established for today and for the future.”

Dr. Al-Thani's also participated in an executive plenary session, moderated by Dr. Huma Abbasi (Chevron Corporation) that discussed 'Wellness works and Prevention Pays' as an idea, with other panelists including Prof. Sergio Iavicoli, (Secretary General, International Commission on Occupational Health), Rob Sherwin, (General Manager Corporate Affairs; Deputy Country Chairman Qatar Shell Service Company W.L.L) and Egbert Schillings, (CEO - World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) – Initiative of Qatar Foundation).

The Employee Health & Wellbeing conference also partnered with the Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) and supported their WEKAYA Campaign (a worker health awareness program). As a member of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, QRC is a globally recognized humanitarian organization that has access to disaster and conflict zones. Zenab Hussain, Director at Fleming Gulf and the event organiser, presented the Qatar Red Crescent Society with a donation cheque towards the cause as part of their CSR activity.


The delegates participated in various discussions on Occupational health as a key determinant for sustainable development for any organisation. Highlighting the importance of health at work, Prof. Iavicoli, of the International Commission on Occupational Health addressed the delegates on improved health and safety measures to reduce fatal and non fatal accidental incidents. Exploring an interesting subject of assessing the work environment, the president of AECOM (American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine) spoke about the good, the bad and the ugly of evidence and risk based health surveillance. Discussing an array of new frontiers in corporate health, representatives from world leading organisations such as Chevron Corporation Global Health, Faculty of Occupational Medicine - Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and leading solution provider Ooredoo, addressed the audience on the secrets of behaviour change and overcoming the ROI struggle.

Cultivating a healthy and safe resilient workplace is a common challenge faced by organisations today. Micheal Kline, Project Manager from the well known Barzan Onshore project, shared his experience on how they managed 130 million man-hours without LTI. Other topics such as fatigue risk management in a mega project and the impact of stress, drugs and alcohol on general and occupational health were addressed by representatives from Shell Qatar and Anti Doping Lab Qatar. Employee engagement and psychosocial risks in the workplace are important components for strategizing occupational health. Day one of the conference concluded with a session of Dr. Andrew Thomson from Sadara Chemicals, explaining the medical perspective of hazardous risks and exposures, focusing on the flow of risk assessment into the medical surveillance program.

Day two of the conference today will see experts from leading organsiations such as University of Manchester, ExxonMobil and BP International discussing the future delivery and influence of occupational health. A session dedicated to the aviation sector will have representatives from major air operators like Qatar Airways, British Airways and Etihad Airways focusing on the medical challenges faced within aviation. The conference also features two key panel sessions, one of which will find answers to the question whether health is under rated in today's safety dominated society. The other will have panelists discuss about pioneering remote healthcare.

The three day conference will conclude on the 13th of October with two masterclasses. The first workshop will provide participants a 360 degree perspective on an effective corporate wellness program by Manoj Menon of Spotcheck and Sunny Lu Williams from Telemon Corporation. The other masterclass will be conducted by Dr. Rakhmat Soebekti and Dr. Ahmed Latif from Qatar Petroleum discussing effective return to work management strategies.

Event participants are entitled to earn 13 CPD Points approved by Faculty of Occupational Medicine (London). The conference is also supported by leading solution providers such as Ooredoo, Anti Doping Lab - Qatar, Garmin International , Wellsource, JMS, Crunch Doha, Aetna and Bounce Fitness.