The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) has teamed up with Qatar International Safety Centre (QISC) to deliver advanced occupational health and safety (OHS) training to Qatar 2022 construction workers.

The bespoke training programme was developed after the SC signed a collaboration agreement with QISC in 2017. It is designed to enhance workers' technical capabilities, improve job performance and increase both safety and productivity.

The training will include targeted OHS modules for trades such as steel fixers and carpenters, as well as making sure workers are kept up-to-date on enhancements to the SC's Workers' Welfare Standards. More than 10,000 workers across the SC's infrastructure programme will benefit from the training.

Mahmoud Qutub, the SC's Workers' Welfare Executive Director, said the SC was committed to raising health and safety standards across its sites.

"We are aware of the importance of training because of the positive impact it can have on workers," Qutub said.

"We partnered with QISC because we knew they would be able to help us identify how we can improve the training of workers. It's been a collaborative and thorough process, during which we've spent several months developing a comprehensive training plan, targeting areas we know are critical, including occupational health and safety."

Since partnering with QISC in 2017 the SC has delivered Workers' Welfare Induction Training for 4,159 workers, Occupational Health & Safety Training for 3,084, Occupational Health & Safety Training for 86 medical staff and Medical Requirements Training for 196 medical and Advanced / basic Life Support Training to a further 35.

All training requirements were compiled following inspections carried out by the SC, in collaboration with independent global trade union federation, Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) – with whom the SC signed a cooperation agreement in 2016.

Qutub continued: "Health and safety is of utmost importance on our programme, and our partnership with QISC's experts to train workers, medical staff and management will help prevent accidents and injuries.

"What is absolutely crucial is educating supervisors about what to do if workers complain about any injuries or issues relating to occupational health. Workers should be able to tell their supervisor about any concerns, safe in the knowledge that whoever is over-seeing their work has the awareness and expertise to take effective and efficient action."

The OHS training is the latest in a long list of initiatives undertaken to by the SC's Workers' Welfare Department to protect the workers. Previous projects include a nutrition programme in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, the introduction of cooling technology on construction sites, the roll-out of electronic medical records, and a complete review of medical facilities and staff on all SC-related projects.