GCC Health Council Launches Gulf Occupational Health and Safety Week

The GCC Health Council underlined the importance of occupational health and safety to protect workers from work-related risks, stressing the need to adhere to regulations and guidelines. The GCC Health Council is organizing the Gulf Week for Occupational Health and Safety from April 26 to 30, in cooperation with the ministries of health of member states. The Council launched a set of awareness and educational guidelines on the occasion, among them guidelines dealing with misconceptions about work pressures, including the idea that longer working hours leads to more productivity without health consequences. Studies indicate that working 55 hours or more per week is associated with a 35% increased risk of stroke, compared to 35-40 working hours a week. The Council noted that vacations are not the only solution to address job burnout. Research shows that vacations only help reduce levels of job burnout, therefore other sustainable solutions must be found to handle it. The Council pointed to signs of job burn out, including psychological such as feeling depressed at work, forgetfulness, and a constant lack of concentration; and physical like frequent headaches, loss of appetite, esophageal reflux disease, fatigue and deterioration in sleep quality and the immune system, and rapid disease incidence. The Gulf Occupational Health and Safety Week comes within the framework of the GCC Health Councils ongoing efforts to enhance awareness of the importance of occupational health and safety among citizens of the Council countries. Source: Qatar News Agency