Meeting health and safety needs

Understanding health and safety legislation is the first step in ensuring that standards are applied on site. Laura Atherton and Aziz Zerban outline some of the issues faced in the region.

There are two major issues when dealing with health and safety in Dubai. The first is to obtain and understand the comprehensive set of obligations that Dubai law requires those working in the construction industry to comply with.

The second is the actual implementation on site of practices and procedures to ensure that these laws are adhered to.

The latter issue has been the subject of much discussion in construction circles in the Emirate. The talk is generally of the need to change the culture and attitude to health and safety on a number of construction sites.

However, this issue can only be tackled once the actual requirements that must be complied with are fully understood - and having a complete understanding of the relevant laws is not as simple as it sounds.

Legislation issues

A large part of the problem is getting on top of all the legislation available. There is no one body or authority responsible for producing all of the relevant health and safety legislation for Dubai.

In fact, there is health and safety legislation, guidance and other documentation produced at Emirate, Federal and GCC (international) level. Even when just considering what is available at Emirate level, the law comes in many forms: Ministerial Orders and Regulations, Dubai Municipality Regulations, Technical Guidelines and Circulars.

There are also safety manuals and documents of various status produced by entities like the Free Zone authorities and governmental organisations.

There are certain key pieces of legislation and guidance likely to be familiar to those working within the sphere of health and safety such as Federal Law No 8 of 1980 Part V (the Labour Law), Ministerial Order 32 of 1982 and the Dubai Municipality Code of Construction Safety Practice.

However, some of the applicable laws are far less well known. For example, did you know that Article 3 of Ministerial Order 44/1 of 1980 on the Inspection of Establishments requires that establishments need to be inspected periodically at least twice a year?

Seeking guidance

So what help or hope is there for the construction professional who wants to ensure that they are up to speed with all of the relevant health and safety legislation?

Well, there are currently two not-for-profit organisations who share information, best practice and provide support in order to raise the bar and make Dubai a safer place to both work and live: Institution of Occupational Safety & Health (IOSH) and BuildSafe Dubai.

IOSH, Europe's leading body for health and safety professionals, set up an IOSH Middle East branch in 2006. One of the Institution's stated aims is to clarify the legislation concerning occupational health and safety in the Middle East and to share this information with interested parties.

BuildSafe Dubai is a meeting of minds from various organisations that have good safety standards, with a view to sharing ideas on good practice and how to implement, plan and cost such practices.

Through a combination of the effort of a number of individuals working with these two organisations, work is currently underway on producing a database that aims to be a comprehensive bible of all the relevant health and safety legislation applicable to those working in the construction industry in Dubai.

It is expected that the database will be complete within the near future, when it will be accessible to all for free, through both the IOSH Middle East and BuildSafe Dubai websites.

It is thought that, once complete, this database and other information provided by IOSH and BuildSafe will be a hugely beneficial resource to all those working in the Emirate's construction industry.

As Dubai continues to meet its fast-track vision and aspirations to become a tourism and commerce hub, will it observe a similar fast-track path for safety? We fully believe that there are good and sufficient regulations in place in Dubai, however the sheer number of construction sites makes it hard for the authorities to enforce them.

Nevertheless, as we have seen media attention shift and corporate social responsibility take hold in the recent past, we are confident that a radical change is underway.

Laura Atherton is solicitor advocate with Kennedys; Aziz Zerban is regional health & safety manager with EC Harris.

If you would like to get involved in the work on the database or any of the other initiatives currently being developed by IOSH or BuildSafe, for further information go to www.iosh.co.uk or www.iosh-middleeast.com

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

READERS' COMMENTS

View all comments (0)

Have your say

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM