The Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) unit of Dubai Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation (PCFC), and Nakheel recently held a seminar in Dubai to highlight various health and safety aspects pertaining to construction projects at Nakheel’s International City development. Beginning March 2006, EHS will be in charge of overseeing the health and safety standards at construction projects at International City.
A professional safety team from EHS will conduct daily inspections on all contractors at International City, conduct snap-shot audits to assess risks and site hazards and perform random checks to ensure plant safety at the construction site.
Ahmed Hussain, Chief Executive Officer, EHS, made a presentation during the event where he stressed on the need for contracting companies to maintain high levels of statutory compliance to ensure that workers are exposed to minimal risk of accidents at the work site. He said that workers working on scaffolding and those involved in working with electrical equipments and cranes were at a greater risk of being injured, and that every effort had to be made to guarantee safety of these workers.
Robert Lee, Director Development at Nakheel also made a presentation highlighting the company’s commitment to provide total safety of the workforce and on the importance of raising the bar in health and safety performance at construction sites.
“Safety and wellbeing of workers have to be high on the agenda of construction companies and contractors,” said Ahmed Hussain. “Every precautionary measure and safety standard has to be adhered to, to ensure that workers are not involved in accidents at the construction site.”
“The International City development is one of the largest construction projects in Dubai, involving a large number of contracting companies and hundreds of workers. This makes it necessary to closely monitor the health and safety standards adopted at the project and to take required measures in case companies were found violating safety rules,” he added.
After assessing site safety review scores and monthly reports of contracting companies, EHS will take action against non-compliant contractors. Each quarter EHS will also present awards to the best-performing contractor. EHS and Nakheel will also be involved in periodic health and safety meetings with representatives from contracting companies to discuss the status and progress of the safety initiatives.
In cases where contractors are found to be violating the set health and safety norms, EHS will send a notification to the concerned contractor, which will be followed by a formal warning. If the contractor does not take necessary remedial action, a financial penalty may be imposed. Fines may also be imposed in case of a serious accident where the contractor is at fault.
