Poor salaries leave safety inspectors' posts vacant

Dubai: Poor salaries and often dangerous working conditions are contributing to what a labour official described yesterday as a "big shortage" of health and safety inspectors for building sites and labourers' accommodation in the UAE.

In a candid interview with Gulf News, Mohsen Bin Qahal, Head of the Inspection Department at the Ministry of Labour, said that despite an ongoing recruitment campaign for inspectors the department remains very understaffed.

"In my opinion we need hundreds of new inspectors to cope with the fast growing number of building sites and the accommodation for labourers. We are currently finding it difficult to cope," he said.

Bin Qahal said the Ministry has placed five adverts in the Arabic press to replace 12 inspectors who have recently resigned or retired. The official admitted that low salaries and hazardous working conditions meant potential recruits were more attracted by offers in the private sector.

"While we have implemented a plan to employ more inspectors we struggle to compete with the better salaries offered by companies in the private sector. Inspectors have to work long hours and are at times vulnerable to accidents on building sites or health problems in the labour accommodation. They should be offered more money," he said. According to Bin Qahal, there are currently 20 inspectors among 38 people working in the Ministry of Labour's Inspection Department.

Responsible for inspecting around 70,000 building sites and labour accommodation premises in Abu Dhabi they often visit over seven sites a day and are expected to work at night.

Bin Qahal said the shortage meant companies found it easier to break the law and admitted that greater discontent among workers could be expected if the department was unable to function more efficiently.

"We are unable to inspect as regularly as we need to and so some companies take advantage of this. Of course there will be more strikes and more discontent among the labourers if we don't have the inspectors to implement the law," he said.