PEIE, CMA and Civil Defence Organize Workshop on Insurance and Risk Management for  Industrial Enterprises in Salalah

The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates in collaboration with the Capital Market Authority, the Public Authority for Civil Defence and the Omani Insurance Association continued their efforts to spread security,  safety and insurance  culture among the owners of industrial enterprises. To this end  the second workshop on “the Role of Insurance in Risk Management” was  held at the Commerce and Industry Chamber, Governorate of Dhofar for the enterprises at Raysout Industrial Estate and the Free Zone at Mazyounah titled “The Role of Insurance in Risk Management” as part of the recommendations of the Seminar held in March2016 tilted “Security and Safety Requirements in Industrial Enterprises” with the aim of spreading awareness on the security and safety measures, risk in the work environment, insurance philosophy and the importance of providing safe work environment, compliance with  prevention guidelines and how to  act in the event  of accidents and injuries in addition to  protecting the industrial enterprises as vital support for the national economy.

The workshop started with statement by Major Harib Zaher Al Nabhani, Assistant Director for Preventive Protection at the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance and member of the committee for execution of the recommendations  of the Seminar on Security and Safety  of Industrial Enterprises. He said the Committee has coordinated the efforts and enhanced cooperation between the entities concerned with  developing the security and safety systems. He added two workshops were organized in Muscat and Salalah and a workshop will be organized in Sohar.

Al Nabahani said that consolidation of security and safety culture in industrial enterprises and meeting the requirements is indispensable to ensure continuation of production  and ability to encounter any potential crises, furthermore, taking care  of security and safety requirements is actually a risk management measure.

Two papers were presented in the workshop. The first paper was presented by Engineer Samarah Salah, Training and Business Development Manager at Samarah Training Services in which she said that emergencies are unexpected events and require prompt  intervention. She explained the objects of emergency plans, types of emergencies and the factors impacting the level of emergency in addition to  planning the management of emergencies and the role of PEIE in this regard. She pointed out that statistics indicate taking care of safety reduces losses or increases profits and there are legal consequences for neglecting safety such as penalties, warnings, imprisonment and closure of the enterprise which have financial impact such as waste of time, production stoppage  as well as the effect on the reputation of the company or plant further to the losses of  the economy as a result of  the pressure on the health and judicial institutions and other related entities.

The second paper was presented  by Engineer Adil Hassan Al Lawati of Orient Insurance in which he said that insurance is  protection from uncertain risk in consideration of financial obligation (the premium) which is transfer to the risk and fragmenting  the risk into small bearable risks. He added insurance grants peace of mind and ensures continuation of the business, protects the capital and protect the interests of shareholders, owners, employees and other parties as well as the national economy.

He pointed out that the risks surrounding the industrial enterprise are administrative  risk such as the level of awareness and concern of  the management, policies and systems applied at the enterprise  and risk management plan. Physical risks are the nature of the product, work environment, nature of the machinery and equipment used, nature of raw material and the nature of the manufacturing processes. Site risks are natural disasters and surrounding enterprises. Other risks relate to the human element such as personal  and psychological  factors, professional and training factors and the level of the worker’s awareness of the risks.

A discussion session was held  between the speakers and the audience on the concept of security and safety in industrial enterprise, industrial fires and firefighting and prevention.