Dubai: Dubai Municipality will waive the fines for not keeping proper first aid boxes in work places during a monthlong campaign launched to mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2017.

It will, instead, distribute first aid boxes and bags to raise awareness about occupational health and safety of workers, a senior official said.

“In the normal inspection, if there is a violation, a fine of Dhs500 to Dh1,000 will be imposed for incomplete [or no] first-aid box [in worksites],” said Khalid Mohammad Sharif Al Awadhi, assistant director general for Environment, Health and Safety Control Sector.

However, during the period of the “Your Safety First Than Your Violation” initiative, first aid boxes and bags will be distributed instead of imposing fines in order to raise awareness and draw attention in a different way, he said.

The official was speaking after launching a total of three initiatives on Sunday as part of the celebrations of the World Day for Safety and Health in Work 2017, under the slogan, “Optimal use of occupational health and safety data”, which marks the anniversary of the founding of the International Labor Organisation (ILO).

The ceremony, held under the patronage of the Director General of Dubai Municipality, was also attended by Redha Salman, director of Public Health and Safety Department and other officials of the department.

Salman told Gulf News that all three new initiatives will run through the entire month of May.

The other two initiatives are the “Excellent Safety Initiative” and the “Safe Return Initiative.”

In the first initiative, the civic body will honour best workers and employees for implementing safety. In the second one, it will welcome the safe return to work of a worker who was injured due to negligence in safety procedures and encourage him to be the voice and motivation within the organisation to prevent violations of safety and encourage its members to comply with safety requirements.

“Since 2011, Dubai Municipality has adopted the principles of ILO concerning the occupational health and safety of workers, and has obliged employers to translate them into awareness bulletins to reach all sectors of the workforce in order to promote an occupational health and safety culture,” said Al Awadhi.

He said the Municipality has set up internal awareness programmes as well as similar drives at the emirate level, which include workshops, and distribution of educational messages, guidance books and other publications and stickers. Programmes and activities will also be publicised and disseminated to government departments to be a live translation of the efforts of the emirate and the country in the ongoing pursuit of “building a culture of prevention in occupational health and safety.”

He stressed that the celebration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work and the International Workers’ Day affirms the Government of Dubai’s approach towards recognising and honouring the workforce, spreading the culture of recognition of rights and duties and promoting awareness of the importance of occupational health and safety at the level of government and private sectors operating in the Emirate of Dubai.

Al Awadhi added that the Municipality’s celebration of this day firmly established the emirate’s policy of ensuring a healthy and safe working environment for workers by meeting the requirements of protection, safety, prevention and other social and economic standards and benefits (such as determining working hours, lunch break, health insurance and other rights).

“The International Workers’ Day draws the attention of the world to the workers’ great influence in the development process and highlights their efforts and the need to evaluate the adoption of monitoring programmes on the safety of workers in the workplace, the investigation of workers’ injuries and complaints about working conditions, preventive services provided by medical authorities, in addition to the awareness programmes and existing technical guidance to serve the ILO’s slogan and strive for worker safety and well-being,” he said.