IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 6906: Occupational Safety and Work-Related Injury Control Efforts in Qatar: Lessons Learned from a Rapidly Developing Economy

IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 6906: Occupational Safety and Work-Related Injury Control Efforts in Qatar: Lessons Learned from a Rapidly Developing Economy International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186906 Authors: Consunji Mehmood Hirani El-Menyar Abeid Hyder Al-Thani Peralta Work-related injury (WRI) control is an integral part of occupational safety. In rapidly developing Gulf countries such as Qatar with a predominantly expatriate workforce, WRI control is a complex issue often seen in conjunction with the implementation of labour laws and labour rights. We aimed to implement a public health approach to facilitate efforts to achieve long-term WRI control in Qatar. A range of initiatives helped to gain visibility and momentum for this important public health problem, including identifying and engaging with key stakeholders, workers’ surveys, steps to establish a unified injury database, and the implementation of a WRI identification tool in the electronic medical records. A contemporaneous improved enforcement of existent occupational safety regulations through heightened worksite inspections and efforts to improve living conditions for migrant workers also took place. WRIs are not only a Qatar-specific problem; the same issues are faced by neighbouring Gulf countries and other rapidly developing economies with large expatriate worker populations. These strategies are also useful starting poin...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research