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Abu Dhabi / WAM
The Abu Dhabi City Municipality (ADM) has called upon contractors and consultants to take all preventive measures and abide by the Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), standards in order to maintain the safety of employees, protect their lives and eliminate potential hazards at the workplace.
The municipality recently inspected several areas on Abu Dhabi Island, Al Reem Island, Al Raha Beach, Yas Island, Al Saadiyat Island, Khalifa City, Shakhbout City and Mohammed bin Zayed City. The campaign targeted construction sites where works are underway to ensure their compliance with EHS requirements.
During the three-day inspection campaign, municipal inspectors issued citations for 67 offences and 53 warnings against contractors and consultants for failing to comply with safety rules. The inspectors also made a number of observations and issued directives aimed at improving health and safety on-site and ensuring that all requirements are met.
The violations monitored at construction sites included unsafe work-at-height practices and non-compliance with personal protective equipment. Other reported violations included neglecting temporary fencing on-site, storing building materials illegally, illegally dumping waste, and failing to service firefighting equipment.
This campaign signals the commitment of the Department of Urban Planning and Municipalities – Abu Dhabi City Municipality to protect the lives of workers, safeguard their health and safety, and verify their compliance with the EHS standards of the municipality at construction sites, as stipulated by the Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety and Health Centre.
The municipality carries out such campaigns, in accordance with the Buildings Regulation Law No. 16/2009 and the amendments of Law No. 4/1983 governing construction works, as well as Law No. 2/2012 governing the Public Appearance, Health and Tranquility in Abu Dhabi.
The municipality is poised to continue such campaigns to inspect all building and construction sites in Abu Dhabi.
The municipality is keen to raise awareness about the EHS standards at construction sites. It holds several awareness-raising workshops throughout the year and helps companies to develop their EHS management systems, as per the standards observed in Abu Dhabi. The municipality also keeps interested parties informed about any potential changes to the EHS management systems and the manual it has developed to improve the performance of businesses seeking accreditation of their EHS management systems.
The improvement efforts include guidelines, together with insights and common errors spotted during the review of the management systems provided by companies.