Society of Petroleum Engineers Distinguished Lecturer 2011-12 Lecture Season

Addressing Occupational Health Issues to Overcome Human and Capital Loss Nasser Al Maskery
BP Exploration (Epsilon) Ltd Abstract:
According to the best estimates over 100 million workers are injured and 200 000 die each year in occupational accidents and over 150 million new cases of occupational diseases are attributed to hazardous exposures or workloads. Such high numbers of severe outcomes contribute to one of the most important impacts on the health of the worlds population. Occupational injuries and diseases play an even more important role in developing countries where 70% of the working population of the world lives. By affecting the health of the working population, occupational injuries and diseases have profound effects on work productivity and on the economic and social well-being of workers, their families and dependants. According to recent estimates, the cost of work-related health loss and associated productivity loss may amount to 5% of the total gross national product of the countries of the world. National and international legislation requires employers to remove or control workplace health hazards ---a task ideally suited to experts in OH. Hence, the prime tasks of OH experts are, first to identify and control known or suspected work factors that contribute to ill health, and second, to educate management and workers to fulfill their moral and legal responsibilities for health and safety in the workplace. Similarly, it is the obligation of the governments, the industries and the societies to work closely together in order to maintain the correct balance and to ensure the health of people, aiming at unpolluted planet while still sustaining a bottom line profit and high morale of the workforce.

Biography:
Dr. Al Maskery is a qualified MD with a Diploma and MSc. in Occupational Health (OH) from Birmingham University, UK. He is a member of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (MFOM) at the Royal College of Physicians, London and a Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine (FFOM), Ireland. Dr. He is trained and certified in General Aviation Medicine from the Royal Air Force Institute of the Ministry of Defense in Farnborough, UK. Dr. Al Maskery started his medical career with National Health Services hospitals in Cardiff, S. Wales mainly as a general physician and in Accident &Emergency departments. He joined Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) as a clinical practitioner, and 3 years later was cross-posted in Shell Centre, London as a Senior Medical Advisor for Overseas Services. He also worked in Stanlow Shell Refinery, near Chester, UK and later at The Hague Shell Medical Services in the Netherlands. In 1986 he came back to PDO as the corporate Chief Medical Officer, and the Health Manager where his responsibilities included, among others, management of Primary Health Care, Occupational Health Care, Medical Emergency Response, and HSE steering. He is an Associate lecturer in Occupational Health at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat. In 2008 Dr. Al Maskery joined the Exploration and Production BP based in Oman where he is currently the Health Manager and also served as Deputy for HSSE Manager. He has made over 80 OH presentations in the region and internationally including SPE.