Civil Defence set to launch largest preventive drive

Dubai: The Dubai Civil Defence is to launch its largest ever inspection campaign in the wake of rising major fire incidents in the emirate.

There has been a spate of massive fire accidents in Dubai in the past few months, largely attributed to a failure in abiding by preventive and safety standards in warehouses, factories and labour accommodations.

Three workers were killed when 83 warehouses were gutted in Al Quoz industrial area on March 27.

On April 3, a worker suffered serious burn injuries following another blaze in Al Quoz industrial area. A warehouse stocking paints was gutted, injuring a worker and a firefighter.

On April 2, the Naif Souq, a landmark in Dubai, went up in flames, destroying 183 shops.

Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, had said that inspections of such establishments were rare. Procedures were carried out only during the licensing process and after that there was no monitoring.

Dubai Civil Defence will now launch the largest preventive inspection campaign that will cover all geographic sectors that have factories, warehouses and temporary and permanent labour accommodations in the first phase.

The Safety First campaign will start on Sunday and will involve 10 inspection teams, said Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence.

The teams will carry out stringent inspections on the implementation of international safety standards, said Maj Gen Al Matroushi.

Focus

Civil Defence teams have divided the city into ten zones with six in Bur Dubai and four in Deira. Each inspection team will consist of four personnel.

The campaign will focus on creating an awareness among employers and employees of industries, warehouses as well as worker accommodations regarding prevention and safety standards.

The campaign will also focus on the diversity of cultures and attitudes of people and the need for abiding by preventive and safety standards.

The campaign aims to first assess and make the employers and employees follow requirements for fire prevention, safety and protection procedures at warehouses, factories and labour accommodation.

Information

The campaign will also aim to establish unconventional mechanisms to monitor implementation of safety and preventive procedures.

The inspection campaigns will later be expanded to include other economic, real estate and service sectors.

Maj Gen Al Matroushi said it was difficult to carry out regular or surprise inspections on the 973,316 buildings in Dubai as per the 2005 statistics. These buildings include tens of thousands of warehouses, factories and labour accommodations and other facilities.

"Well qualified teams have been assigned for inspections, as the teams will also avail of latest technologies in gathering and managing information for fire prevention at these buildings," he said.

The civil defence teams also aim to establish an electronic database to work as a main reference in case of any accident.

The database will include information such as, the number of actual warehouses used for storage, types of goods stored, locations, abidance to safety standards, the number of factories and their activities, the number of temporary and permanent worker accommodations and the number of people living in each one of them.

"The campaign also aims to establish an electronic system or field scanning which contains information on all buildings and the safety standards in use. The civil defence will also follow up on the mandatory linking of warehouses, factories and labour accommodations to the direct alarm system," Maj Gen Al Matroushi said.

The civil defence also aims to develop and approve literature on fire safety and prevention standards in Arabic and English, printing copies of such standards and distributing them to all warehouses, factories and workers' accommodations in Dubai.

Timeline: String of blazes

2008

• May 17: Blaze destroys engineer's office in the Business Bay project area. No injuries.
• May 14: Fire at building under construction at Dubai Internet City. No casualties.
• May 3: Two fire fighters die battling a blaze in a building at Palm Jumeirah.
• April 7: A warehouse catches fire in Ras Al Khor. No injuries.
• April 3: Blaze guts warehouse triggering closure of road in Al Quoz Industrial Area 3.
• April 2: Fire ravages Naif Souq in Deira. Eight people treated for smoke inhalation.
• March 27: Two die and five injured as massive blaze engulfs warehouses in Al Quoz.
• March 22: Two warehouses in Al Jaddaf area gutted. Four sustain minor injuries.
• March 15: Fire breaks out in factory at Jebel Ali Industrial area. No casualties.
• February 19: Fire engulfs four portable cabins in Al Quoz Industrial area.
• January 16: Fire guts two warehouses in Deira.
• January 03: 20 portable cabins gutted as fire breaks out in labour accommodation on Emirates Road.

2007

• August 27: Fire breaks out in warehouse in Jebel Ali Free Zone. No casualties.
• August 7: Fire ravages labour accommodation in Jebel Ali, destroying 10 cabins.
• May 6: A six-storey building under construction catches fire in Palm Jumeirah injuring one.
• May 2: Two Dubal workers die when a power room catches fire after a blast.
• April 21: Blaze guts seven labour portable cabins under construction on Emirates Road.
• April 1: Warehouse gutted and three others were partly burn in Al Quoz Industrial Area.
• March 24: Fire breaks out in Damas Tower car park under construction on Shaikh Zayed Road.
• March 20: Blaze breaks out in a 30-storey tower under construction on Shaikh Zayed Road.
• January 18: Two workers die and 37 injured as fire breaks out in a high-rise on Shaikh Zayed Road.