Bulletin | December 2011

Issue 2

Bulletin Contents
Building and Construction Sector, Environment, Health and Safety Inspectorate Section The Inspectorate Team Interviews with Representatives from Building and Construction Sector Entities Inspection Program Heat Stress Campaign Scaolding Safety Ask Us

BCEHS AlAin BCEHS AlAin BCEHS AlAin

Building and Construction Sector, Environment, Health and Safety Inspectorate Section of Al Ain City Municipality
The Inspectorate Section was established to monitor entities in the Building & Construction Sector in the City of Al Ain for compliance with the requirements of the Abu Dhabi Emirate Environment, Health and Safety Management System (EHSMS). The Section main functions include: inspections of construction sites, auditing of entities EHS management systems and accident investigation. In early 2011, the section started the rst phase of the Inspection program which focused initially on the main construction projects in Al Ain City. Currently, the scope of the inspection program covers all types of projects from infrastructure works to residential villas.

New inspectors joined the Team in August

The Inspectorate Team

The Inspectorate Team consists of 21 experienced EHS inspectors and is led by the Inspectorate Manager Mr. Hashem Al Baloushi. All inspection sta are educated to degree level, and some hold the professional qualications of the International General Certicate of National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health UK (NEBOSH IGC). All inspectors are required to undergo an extensive training program on construction EHS activities and also on the requirements of the Abu Dhabi Emirate Environment, Health and Safety Management System (ADEHSMS) which will enable them to guide the entities and assist them in establishing their EHS management system and help them to comply with the Building and Construction Sector regulations.

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Over 700 site inspections carried out in 2011

Over 4500 construction workers attended Heat Stress Sessions

Al Ain City Municipality Building & Construction Sector EHS Department inspectors have conducted over 700 site inspections in 2011; the inspections covered di erent types of projects including government buildings, commercial buildings, public schools, hotels, resorts, roads, bridges and also residential villas. During these inspections, the inspectorate team has advised the site contractors and consultants about the environment, health and safety issues and prepared inspection reports detailing all EHS deviations and unsafe practices observed at their sites during the inspection. The Inspectorate Team has not issued a single ne or penalty during these inspection as the projects contractors were informed that at this stage the aim of the inspection is focusing on education and assistance to the entities to ensure that they are aware of the ADEHSMS requirements and understand what will be expected from them once the regulations come into e ect. However, in many cases, inspectors have stopped unsafe activities that could lead to accident with serious injury to workers and have also requested for immediate corrective actions to be undertaken by the contractors to avoid any safety incidents. Although the Department enforcement program of ADEHSMS requirements have not started yet, the inspectors do have a moral obligation to ensure that the health and safety of workers and the environment are protected and where necessary, actions will be taken against violators. Currently, the inspectorate team inspects construction sites of entities that have been nominated by the Department of Municipal A airs (DMA). Nominated entities include developers, consultants and contractors. The number of nominated entities is increasing regularly with additional 25 entities added this month. The Inspectorate Team also conducts surveys and issues statistic reports on the ndings from the inspections. The last survey indicated that most of the signicant ndings during inspections were related to working at height and sca olding.

In coordination with the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi, Ministry of Labor and the EHS Center, Al Ain City Municipality Building and Construction Sector EHS Department has successfully completed the Heat Stress Prevention Campaign. The objective of the campaign was to increase the awareness level of heat stress related illness among the workers in the construction sector. The campaign started in June 2011 and was continued for 3 months. It included site visits to construction projects and labor camps in the city of Al Ain where heat stress training sessions were delivered by representatives from the Inspectorate Section in di erent languages; including Arabic, English, Hindi and Urdu. Most of the main construction contractors in Al Ain city have participated in this campaign and over 4500 construction workers were trained on how to identify the symptoms and to prevent heat stress related illnesses during the campaign sessions. The Inspectorate Section prepared and distributed posters, yers, booklets and also provided food packs and gifts to the workers. The Inspectorate Section plans to launch additional campaigns in the future covering other EHS issues. For any suggestions regarding our campaign, please contact us on ehsinspector@am.ae

Tel +971 3 712 7970 | Email info.hse@am.ae | www.ehs.dma.abudhabi.ae

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Safety at Construction Sites - Scaolding

Falling from height is the main cause of fatalities in the construction industry. With the information drive from the inspectorate Section on sca olding safety standards together with the contractors implementation and compliance with the upcoming regulations for safe erection and usage of sca olding; it will denitely contribute towards reducing the number of potential fall from height incidents. A sca old or other suitable means must be provided for all work which cannot be safely done from the ground, or from a part of a building or other permanent structure. Although sca olding is widely used in the construction industry, most builders are not aware of the safety standards that need to be followed. A review of the ndings of construction site inspections revealed that more e orts should be made by contractors to improve their sca olding. Sca old work has evolved rapidly from wooden materials to steel framed system sca old. The widely used systems now are the cuplock sca old and also tube and tting component sca olding. In Al Ain city, most of the contractors still use the steel framed systems, but in many cases these are being misused or are damaged beyond serviceable repair.

Basic requirements for Scaolding Safety

Scaolding must only be erected, altered and dismantled under the supervision of a competent person; Scaolding must be constructed of sound, strong material; Tubes should not be split, cracked, rusty, bent or distorted, and the timber used for boarding must be of the right type; A scaold must be properly marinated and inspected frequently; and No scaold shall be partly erected or dismantled unless adequate notices are displayed and access blocked.

ADEHSMS requirements are taking hold among main construction companies in the city of Al Ain
Companies have begun o ering training, workshops and induction programmes in di erent languages, with labourers receiving updates on safety procedures. In an interview with Mr. Mohammed Hassan - EHS Manager of Al Fara'a General Contracting Company he mentioned that health, safety and environment policies are one of their rst priorities. In a previous interview by the national newspaper, Mr. Chimanlal Gangaramani - vice chairman of Faraa Integrated Construction Group, which employs 18,000 workers in the UAE - said that health, safety and environment policies are always the rst priority on the agenda." He also added "Safety begins with everyone, its not one persons responsibility. Everyone on the job site has to be thinking about safety all the time. Mr. Shadi al Sady - the health and safety manager at Nael and Bin Harmal Hydroexport - has also mentioned during an interview that his company had introduced a simple, step-by-step training procedure to help protect its 11,000-strong workforce, in compliance with EHSMS guidelines. Weve developed a system that we think is unique to our company, because we make the education very simple for the labourers in workshops and training, and very sophisticated on the administration level, Mr al Sady said. He also added that his company even provided the workers with illustrated safety handouts. Everyone works well with paperwork, but it doesnt always make it down the ladder to the worker, Mr al Sady concluded.

Tel +971 3 712 7970 | Email info.hse@am.ae | www.ehs.dma.abudhabi.ae

Bulletin | December 2011

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Inspectorate Section oering assistance and advice to Al Ain City Contractors

It is our aim to ensure any assistance we can give is o ered. We will be running series of EHS workshops, one-to-one sessions on Construction Safety and the ADEHSMS requirements. Also, we will visit any entity on request to assist them in development of their EHSMS and help them in any site related EHS issues. Please visit our website (www.ehs.dma.abudhabi.ae) for any information about our EHSMS workshops or contact us on one the following channels: E-mail: ehsinspector@am.ae Tel: 03-712 7970

Ask us
Send us your questions to info.hse@am.ae or visit our social sites and post your questions. Our resident experts will answer these for you. Working at height We believe that prevention of accidents is certainly better than managing them. Consider removing the hazard in the rst place. For example, close in the open edges with secure railing.

Tel +971 3 712 7970 | Email info.hse@am.ae | www.ehs.dma.abudhabi.ae