Safety must be priority for workers

Last month, I saw an extremely unsafe act occurring on a recently-erected billboard before Business Bay crossing.

Seen in the picture are seven workers at a height of approximately 15 to 20 metres. Three people on the lowest landing were wearing safety harnesses but the four workers at the top level had no safety harnesses and were at a high risk of falling from a great height.

Also, the scaffolding in such cases appear to be usually of not fair quality and unsafely erected. All rules have been broken in erecting this particular scaffolding and it was a miracle that it did not collapse despite the height, dynamic load conditions and the fact that seven people were working on it.

Due to prevailing competitive market conditions, sub-contractors are generally inclined to take short cuts, while putting precious lives at risk.

Hence, I urge the authorities to send inspectors to regularly and personally inspect such work and issue them a permit to work only after ensuring all safety control measures are in place.

- The reader is a manager for quality, healthy, safety and environment in a Dubai-based company

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