Accolades for environmental policies of police

Dubai: Dubai Police is considered to be the first security organisation worldwide to obtain a prestigious certificate for complying with international standards in environmental, health, and safety management systems.

During a press conference held recently by Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Deputy Director of Dubai Police, he said Dubai Police has been certified with ISO 14001 for environmental management systems and ISO 18001 for occupational health and safety management.

Management

The ISO 14001 is a series of process standards which is comprised of environmental management standards and guidelines. It strives to establish the organisation's environmental ethics and enhance its ability to attain and measure environmental performance.

The standards influence all aspects of the institution process from design through manufacturing and services, and its compliance is completely voluntary, he said.

"Dubai Police, headed by Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, sought to upgrade the infrastructure, equipment and service standards of the police to comply with health, safety, and environmental standards," said Al Mazeina.

ISO 18001, the occupational health and safety assessment series (OHSAS), has been developed to be compatible with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. This series enables institutions to control its OHSAS risks and improve performance, he said.

To translate these two applications to reality, Al Mazeina said that much of the equipment used in the central jail for inmates and in workshops that are used to maintain machines, equipment, cars, and other facilities were changed to comply with the new standards.

Since 2007 the Dubai Police has been working on the project which brought changes to certain equipment which used to emit high levels of carbon dioxide but have now been brought down to average emission levels.

More filters are included in the forensic laboratory and workshops to monitors the emission of gasses to ensure the safety of the employees.

Further changes included changes to the type of paints and equipment used by inmates and cutting down on the number of hours that jail inmates spend in the workshops.

"Any inmate that does not follow our safety regulations is banned from using the workshop," he said.

Even waste management and the kinds of plastic bags used by police officers have been changed to comply with environmental standards.