OSH forum unveils 13 recommendations in bid to enhance safety at workplace

The National Forum for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) yielded on Sunday on its final day 13 recommendations aiming to enhance OSH at workplace, prevent work injuries, spread awareness of safety and health with the help from general and postgraduate education, in addition to issuing regulations and developing safety systems to be adopted by establishments and their workers. The forum which was organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development (MLSD) from April 28-29 in Riyadh agreed to build OSH culture through raising wide-ranging awareness in the education system and introducing OSH into curricula at elementary schools, ensuring that the next generation would follow it. Meanwhile, the gathering was in sync with the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay) as the participants stressed the necessity to design bachelor’s and master’s programs and professional certificates in the field. The forum urges stakeholders to issue government, administrative and technical regulations that target industrial firms and lay out a strategic plan for OSH to be adopted by colleges and institutes of technology and engineering, which prepare industrial workers to join the labor market. Furthermore, the forum called for private-sector establishments to report work incidents via the auto social insurance system in order to protect the safety of workers and create a national record for injuries at workplace. Moreover, the attendants agreed to update current OSH systems in the light of international standards and the local regulations, in addition to studying a proposal on obliging the firms to train their workers on safety and health measures. The participants recommended creation of full-fledged OSH systems based on the VISION ZERO and the 7 Golden Rules as well as enhancing safety measures at the firms with female workforce. At the communique, they will study a proposal for appointing a safety specialist to oversee construction projects based on their size. The forum suggested development of channels to easily gather stakeholders in workshops aimed at protecting workers’ safety and designing related standards, in addition to forming strategic partnership with insurance companies in an attempt to meet the needs of safety at workplace.