Originally Posted by jam25mack

So, in fairness suitable H&S precautions were being implemented and it was unfortunate that the harness was damaged in the incident. So just one of those unavoidable things.



Was thinking the same.

At the end of the day sites are dangerous places by definition. To mitigate any risk completely is impossible and there has to be a reasonable balance as otherwise no work could get done. This brings in the argument for training rather than preventative measures.

I spend a lot of time on site. I was there yesterday infact. We are building a duel carriageway through the Hajar mountains. 8 tunnels, many rock cutting etc. There's all kinds of heavy plant everywhere. Lots and lots of risk. Some associated with the activities we are undertaking and some associated with the harsh environment and terrain we are in. Our Contractor's H&S approach is very good though and we as the Consultant support them all we can, however, you can only do so much..... and every now and then accidents happen.

So far we have had one death. This was a few years ago now. A concrete truck driver was cleaning out his mixer by spraying water inside as it rotated (this is the common practice and is done tens of thousands of times a day all across the UAE and millions of times daily across the world). Unfortunately he got to close to the fast rotating mixer and his hi-vis vest got snagged and he got dragged into it........

H&S is improving in the region. There have been night and day changes from when I first arrived over a decade ago which is obviously a good thing...... However, that said, I do hope it doesn't get to the same level as H&S in the UK. It's just ridiculous over there now. Our challenge is trying to get the western approach understood and followed by workers from other cultures.

Originally Posted by co durham boy

You're bang on with all your points . I manage a concrete company here in Dubai and have a constant daily task of dealing with these incidents . Things have drastically improved over the years but you will never mitigate all the risk .

When you have people on site at a low level who cannot see the risk then that is the problem. Working at height / Heavy Plant Movement / Access and Egress are the worst killers .

Managing these three activities in this environment is not for the faint hearted.

Originally Posted by DXBtoDOH

Getting the TCNs to follow and even believe in the H&S regulations will require major cultural changes. Indians are particularly bad with this. One only sees their disregard for fellow lives in their driving standards. They don't mean it on a personal level (unlike the Arabs) but they live in a world where the concept of personal space or safety precautions is so limited so they've never developed the cultural lessons to follow safety regulations or to allow sufficient personal space to make things safer for themselves and others.

Originally Posted by Scamp

You can have the best policies, procedures, talks, reviews, checks in the world but at some point you'll turn your back and someone will do something.