Health cheque

As one of the biggest concerns for today’s construction industry, the matter of health and safety is attracting more attention than ever before. Recent research by UAE University indicated that approximately two-thirds of occupational injury admissions to a Middle Eastern hospital in 2008 involved accidents common to construction workers. Falls from height particularly, have been identified by experts as the primary cause of death in the construction workplace.

Taking the lead on the subject in early May, the emirate of Abu Dhabi established a new building and construction sector environment, health and safety (EHS) department in its Al Ain municipality. Having incorporated international principles with existing federal laws to set minimum standards for EHS, government officials are now looking forward to a more standardised system of working, whereby small contractors as well as large firms can reap the benefits of healthy, safe and sustainable workplaces. By compelling 190 high-risk firms across the sector to devise and implement their own EHS management systems before 2012, they hope to breed a new ‘health and safety culture’ throughout the emirate, and in the future, across the whole of the UAE.

But like all new pervasive and regulatory frameworks affecting entire industries, concerns exist over how the scheme will work in practice, as well as the day to day impact on contractors. This is in addition to apprehension over how the scheme might affect business in the region and how smaller firms might go about implementing it.

‘Nominated entities’

To begin with, the scheme is only going to affect what are currently being referred to as ‘nominated entities’. Essentially, these are high risk companies (including contractors, sub-contractors, developers, consultants and suppliers) with projects in Abu Dhabi who have been nominated by the municipality. In effect, this means that any large company in the GCC region should already be working towards a formal health and safety policy, and indeed, many have already begun preparations without notification. Formally, once notified, nominated entities will have a year in which to devise their own EHS management system specific to their individual companies’ risks, and then a further year to implement the system internally and across their network of subcontractors and suppliers.

The general consensus is that there will be no significant impact on large companies, most of which already have solid health and safety management systems in place. “Any good international contractor will already be compliant with the new regulations, so it is not really going to make a difference to their business,” Aldar’s Head of Safety Andrew Broderick explained. “At Aldar for example, we already have an EHS management system in place which we have implemented across all of our active sites. And, Aldar being Aldar, we tend to employ good contractors who are also already compliant with ISO standards.”

Niall McLoughlin, Senior Vice President for real estate developer Damac Properties said that his company is also already practising an HSE Management system in line with Dubai and Abu Dhabi authority requirements for its major projects. He added that to ensure the system is implemented by contractors and engineers, Damac actually includes a clause on health and safety compliance within its contract, and regularly monitors the system’s implementation along with government agencies.

Economic impact

Of course, where such systems are not already in place, concerns have been raised about the economic impact the scheme could have on the region, both in terms of the direct cost implications for those firms who have a lot of work to do on the subject, and the effects that a new regulatory environment could have on the winning of new contracts. For smaller firms, the price of implementing a formal EHS management system particularly could be significant, from the direct costs of purchasing safety equipment and employing an EHS official, to the time and resource associated with implementing the system itself.However, Elias McGrath at BuildSafe does not believe this is a valid reason for avoiding health and safety on construction sites. “Implementing this scheme will be a challenge, but it is something that has to be achieved. Right now there are too many excuses for not improving regulations.” And rather than having a negative impact on business, McGrath believes that the new scheme offers real opportunities for economic growth and prosperity. “This scheme is a fantastic tool for the industry and the next generation of construction. It will actually be used to increase competition, because organisations who comply will win more work. The reality is that a quality company protects its workers, and if an organisation wants to achieve competitive advantage, then it needs to have proper health and safety systems in place.”

Related to this issue is the cost of the accidents and fatalities themselves. Aside from the obvious loss of life or health, firms who witness incidents on site are at a high risk of paying out a substantial amount of money in compensation and legal fees. “The construction process contains many risks – and the consequences of accidents can be quite devastating,” said McLoughlin.

“The costs are often way beyond any financial implications of implementing health and safety policies, while adopting best practice need not be a cost-prohibitive exercise. It is more about sharing ideas and standards.” In accordance with McLoughlin’s views, Broderick confirmed that finance is a popular motive behind the majority of health and safety systems internationally. “Everyone knows that if you have a good, safe site it can save you a lot of money,” he said. “Ultimately the three key international drivers when it comes to health and safety are moral, legal and financial factors.”

Unfortunately and in truth, there are still a large number of contractors across the region without adequate health and safety systems. Not only is this apparent from a frequent number of accidents and fatalities in the industry, but also due to the need for a more standardised health and safety system in the first place.

A lack of understanding

Ultimately then, the main concern with the new regulations is the anticipated impact on smaller firms, since it is they who tend to be among the non-compliers. According to Broderick, the reason for this is simple, and boils down to a lack of understanding among the smaller contractors, who in the past have been somewhat unfamiliar with health and safety, both of in terms of the dangers of poor policies and the benefits of safe construction sites.

“The whole point of this scheme is to bring the smaller companies up to speed, as there are still a lot of contractors out there who are breaking the law,” said Broderick.

“More often than not it is because they simply don’t understand the benefits of having a proper system in place. A safer site is a more productive site, where workers often do the work more quickly. But you can’t keep barking orders at contractors, you need to explain to them and show them.”

Evidently as part of the new system, government officials are taking the soft approach of trying to encourage and assist smaller firms to improve standards rather than bullying them into it. As well as assuring companies that they will not be penalised for non-compliance within the first two years, they have reiterated the existence of a new incentive scheme, issuing rewards for top performers.

General Manager of Al Ain Municipality Dr Matar Al Nuaimi said: “Our aim goes beyond enforcement. By educating the sector, we hope to influence behaviours and develop a positive EHS culture that values both human life and the environment.”