Dubai
A few days ago, I witnessed something outside my building that left me concerned. I would like to bring to the attention of the authorities that companies are still ignoring their workers’ safety by not taking the appropriate precautions.
I came across this scene where workers were standing on a scaffolding (as seen in photograph). My father, who was driving, had to stop the car so he could get out and have a conversation with them. He spoke to the workers about the issue of not following the safety regulations. It is a matter of the workers endangering their own lives because none of them were wearing any safety gear or using proper and safe equipment.
In order to save some time and to make their work easier, these workers compromised their safety. Is it worth risking your life for? The authorities have set certain standards and issued several guidelines to ensure the safety of workers while using mobile scaffolding. They’ve also issued warnings so companies do not violate the rules.
A simple search on the internet shows you that UAE places high importance on the safety of workers. Since I live in Dubai, I did some research about the emirate specifically. I found out that the Dubai Municipality has issued construction safety regulations and published a book of guidelines, ‘Code of Construction - Safety Practice’. This is supposed to be available to all the companies in Dubai, and I’m sure other emirates also have similar guidelines.
The workers were breaking a whole set of the guidelines published by the authorities. The mobile scaffolding was not fixed on a flat ground, or braced securely. The workers were not wearing safety belts, helmets, gloves or harnesses. Additionally, the guidelines say that a safety net should be placed around the working area, but that was also missing.
Even after my father spoke to the workers to not risk their lives, his request fell on deaf ears. This made me want to highlight this issue and raise awareness against such nonchalant behaviour.
It’s the responsibility of the company to ensure the safety of its workforce. It is most important to educate them and mitigate risk to avoid accidents. I believe a company should be making each worker understand that the company values them and their lives and so they need to think about their safety and well being. It’s a more personal approach and might work. The workers need to be safe and abide by the rules and regulations.
I request each company to support this and give the highest importance to government initiatives. Additionally, I request the relevant authorities to look into the issue and perhaps fine the companies who do not follow the guidelines. This might be the only way they’ll stop flouting the rules.
The reader is a student pupil in Dubai.
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