Omid Shakeri, Deputy Petroleum Minister and acting head of the
National Petrochemical Company, said employee health and welfare are essential
to maintaining workforce productivity and sustaining operations across the
petrochemical industry.
“Protecting employees’ health through expanded medical and support
services helps create the conditions for better performance,” Shakeri said at
the opening ceremony.
He said the new physiotherapy center represents part of a broader
effort to strengthen healthcare services available to petrochemical employees
and improve their access to treatment.
Focus on Employee Welfare
Kamran Dehghani, acting head of NPC’s Human Resources Development,
said healthcare services can help reduce some of the concerns employees face
and contribute to stronger motivation and productivity.
He described access to appropriate medical care as an important
component of employee welfare, particularly for workers in an industry where
operational continuity depends heavily on an experienced and healthy workforce.
Treatment at the Workplace
Mohammad-Javad Kian, head of Tehran’s Oil Industry Health
Organization, said the new physiotherapy unit is intended to bring commonly
required medical services closer to employees and reduce the time and cost
associated with traveling to hospitals.
Some administrative buildings operated by oil-industry companies
already have medical clinics, Kian said, adding that the goal is to provide as
many appropriate services as possible at employees’ workplaces.
While services such as inpatient care cannot generally be provided at
these clinics, services including dentistry, specialist consultations and
physiotherapy can be delivered on site, he said.
Reducing Travel Time for Treatment
Physiotherapy was identified as a particularly useful service because
employees previously had to travel to hospitals to receive treatment.
The distance between petrochemical offices and hospitals meant that
employees could spend considerable time commuting for appointments, according
to Kian. Establishing the new unit at the petrochemical clinic is intended to
address that gap and make treatment more accessible.
NPC provided the required space and facilities for the center, while
the Oil Industry Health Organization supplied the necessary medical personnel.
The new facility adds to the industry’s employee-support
infrastructure at a time when petrochemical companies are placing greater
emphasis on workforce welfare, healthcare access and maintaining productivity
alongside investment in production capacity and industrial development.