Saudi Gazette Safety engineering could be a lucrative career option for students in the Kingdom and other Gulf countries in the near future; in order to protect workers from environmental hazards on work sites. The 10th Professional Development Conference and Exhibition, organized by the Society of Safety Engineers, commenced yesterday in Bahrain. The theme for this year is: “Your Safety is our Business, Your Future is our Mission”. The five-day event will explore various issues of health, safety, and environment in the region's industries. State-of-the-art information and new development will be shared with the region's oil, gas, and petrochemical companies. Over 800 participants attended the conference in 2010, and the organizing committee this year is expecting more managers, engineers, and scientists. Eng. Tariq Al-Ghamdi, the director of this years conference and exhibition and a leading member of the American Society of Safety Engineers, Middle East, asked at a press conference in Al-Khobar, “Does everyone know that the percentage of safety engineers in the Kingdom is zero percent?” In a reply to his own rhetorical question, he said, “Yes, we do not have any safety engineers in the Kingdom today. Despite the fact that the country is in grave need for highly educated and qualified safety engineers, our universities do not even offer courses or degrees in safety engineering. The large companies and factories should not operate without a permanent safety engineer on site, in order to improve the quality of their products and achieve excellent occupational safety records for their employees.” He further added, “The goal of this conference is to supply the participants with the latest knowledge and information, and the most advanced tools that will enable our societies to catch up with other nations of the world that have made huge leaps toward creating safer and healthier work environments. In addition, the Middle East Chapter of the Society of Safety Engineers organized a conference in the Gulf region which attracted 300 women to educate them on safety in homes and kitchen, children's safety and how to avoid fire and electrical hazards.” “About 70 percent of the companies that registered attendance to the conference are proactive Saudi companies,” said Eng. Anas Al-Sahly, media coordinator of the Middle East Chapter of the American Society of Safety Engineers. Safety engineers work in many different types of industrial and commercial companies to ensure safety in the workplace as well as in the products the companies manufacture. They are responsible for keeping people free from danger, risk, or injury, and they develop safety programs to minimize losses due to injuries and property damage. They also try to eliminate unsafe practices and conditions in industrial plants, mines, stores, construction sites and transportation systems. __
