PPE and Construction Safety in the Middle East

The construction industry has experienced fundamental changes over the past couple of years as a result of increasing trade liberalization, globalization and internationalism. With these changes come demands from the owners of large construction projects and the EHS community for contractors to perform more efficiently and safely.

In a global environment where no uniformly accepted international safety and health standards currently exist, it is extremely difficult for construction contractors to ensure that they create workplaces that are safe for their workers.

For a number years, the UAE government and others in the Middle East have taken the health and safety of construction workers seriously. According to recent reports, the Middle East construction industry is projected to deliver projects worth USD $500 billion by 2015. This influx also is expected to lead to an increased investment in EHS products and services to help ensure safety in the work environment and to drive down operational costs.

“We are seeing an influx of construction projects worldwide, and in the Middle East the key countries are UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Along with this increase comes the growing concern for more HSE standards that can assure the safety and security of workers on site,” said John Warner, category manager, Intumescent Coatings, Jotun Coatings.

This boom in construction projects has lead to a boom in something else: work-related injuries. A recent study by the UAE University found that around two-thirds of hospital visits involved injuries incurred on building sites and that a lack of PPE or inappropriate PPE were associated with the incident that caused the injury.

EHS professionals working in the Middle East need to concern themselves with more that just jobsite hazards. Climate plays a huge role in the use – or lack of use – of PPE. Due to the temperature levels, the UAE’s Ministry of Labour last May announced that it would extend the ban on midday site work in the country for an extra 1-3 hours between June 15 and Sept. 15, an initiative followed by Saudi Arabia.

Construction Projects in the UAE

The UAE has undergone a construction boom in the last 5 years and projects that previously had suffered during the recession are starting to resume. The construction sector in Dubai is considered one of the key sources of employment, income and growth for Dubai. With the unprecedented growth in the UAE’s construction and property sector, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are observing the highest increase in the number of construction projects. Dubai in particular has seen a major boom in the construction and property sector, making it a hub for some of the world’s biggest construction companies.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia currently has a 38 percent share of the total construction projects in the UAE and is expected to receive contracts worth $86 billion in 2011, according to a newly released report, “GCC Gulf Cooperation Council Powers of Construction 2010” by Deloitte Middle East. Recent construction projects include Jumeirah Gardens City, which has a budget of approximately $95 billion and is expected to house 60,000 residents by 2024.

Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate in the UAE, covering most of its territory. Discovery of oil and gas transformed this emirate into one of the world’s richest locations. The wealth derived from oil and gas resources has been poured into major investments aimed at spurring and maintaining development in this emirate. The property and construction sector has received the largest chunk of total investments, indicating that this sector is a priority in this emirate. It is estimated that the government will spend about $200 billion on the new infrastructure and development projects in the next 5 years. Major projects include Yas Island, a $39 billion project, and Masdar City Project, a highly anticipated zero-carbon city that has been allocated a budget of $22 billion.

“We are seeing an influx of construction projects worldwide, and in the Middle East the key countries are UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.”
–John Warner, Jotun Coatings