Enforcement is key

Most accidents tend to be followed by a slew of questioning into what went wrong, how they could be avoided in the future, and of course, who's to blame.

There is also the process of pinpointing the call for action at the door of those with the power to make changes and mitigate the risk of another, and potentially more fatal, accident.

It was inevitable that the fire at Al Attar Tower 2 this month would lead to a re-emergence of the health and safety debate that followed January's blaze at Fortune Tower.

As with the debate that has been triggered by other accidents that have occurred on building projects across the region, there has been much talk about clamping down on the wayward flouters of health and safety, setting standards in tune with international best practice and, generally, attempting to spread the word that the industry is making headway to restore an otherwise tarnished reputation when it comes to keeping sites safe.

So it's encouraging to hear that such talk appears to be turning into action. The final draft of Dubai Municipality's revised health and safety codes will be released at the end of the year, while Dubai Civil Defence has made strides to ensure compliance with a new regulation for fire safety in buildings under construction.

But with the sheer amount of construction underway and the unrelenting pressure of tight delivery schedules, immediate results may be difficult to achieve.

You have to pity the poor guy who opted to make a living as a health and safety officer, whose recommendations must often be ignored by those keen to focus their minds and money on getting the job done as cheaply as possible and in record time.

After all, many companies out there take the view that the amount spent on health and safety far outweighs the financial cost of an accident, so they are willing to take the risk.

Yet with the planned new laws, lapses in health and safety could be far costlier than current complacency suggests. Not only would it lead to work delays and cost overruns, but it could result in the axing of a project altogether, closure of business and worse, an irredeemable loss of reputation.

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Fire in construction - Periodic inspection
Posted by Jerry Quayle, Dubai, UAE on 2 April 2007 at 14:32 UAE time


Angela Giuffrida makes a valid point, however, tightening rules on construction sites is often a knee jerk reaction, which dissipates over time and the status quo is returned. With the implementation of both a Municipality and DCD Code, we hope to see more inspectors on the ground, without whom any new rules will be the flavour of the month for a few weeks and then the industry will return to what we have now. The time is right to get more enforcement, the rest of the developed world provides sufficient on the ground inspectors to make such rules mandatory. We welcome the opportunity to make construction sites safer.

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