Build Safe Dubai, a not-for-profit umbrella organisation of Dubai's construction industry for sharing best practices in safety, hopes to see more developers join it in its push for greater safety at construction sites, one of its senior functionaries told Emirates Business.

Formed in January, Build Safe Dubai consists of a number of major international and local members from Dubai's construction industry who have agreed to share their safety information in the form of safety presentations, safety alerts, safety toolbox talks and best practice case studies. The aim is to improve the general standard of health, safety and welfare across Dubai as well as share information to demonstrate that accidents are preventable and that safety is ethically "the right thing to do".

Elias McGrath, Group Administrator of Build Safe Dubai, and Assistant Project Manager at Bovis Lend Lease International, said: "We have architects, consultants, contractors, project managers and other service organisations within the group. Everyone is encouraged to join. But developers have the biggest responsibility. At the end of the day, we want every developer in Dubai to adopt best practices for safety on their site.

According to him, even though safety measures have their costs, accidents prove even more expensive for builders and developers.

"If you have three fatalities on the site, the profit margins will be affected by big percentages. The industry has to be aware of it. Developers who make a provision within their feasibility studies must allow for safety budgets. We want to see a lot more developers join up and we have already spoken with Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Holding. Right now, we have Mizin, Dreamworks, and Emirates Sunland," he said.

The body has also met officials of Aldar and the Ministry of Labour. "We are also looking at the opportunity of working with RTA," he said.

The initiative first started in New York in late 2006, when international construction management company, Bovis Lend Lease, created a concept titled Build Safe New York.

"The idea was to share information between organisations. Earlier, it was kept as competitive advantage and as intellectual property. Now we agree for the industry to improve, we should share this information with others. But business is done differently in New York compared to Dubai," McGrath said.

So in 2007, seven heads of key construction companies in Dubai met informally and agreed to launch the concept of Build Safe Dubai. "Bovis brought the idea to Dubai and we looked for companies that have influence in the international markets and follow the same mindset," he said. The other members then included Al Futtaim Carrilion, Murray & Roberts, Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke, Bovis Lend Lease International, Dutco Balfour Beatty and Nasa Multiplex.

"In Dubai, we have different international organisations working together on mega projects with, not one, but many contractors," said McGrath. "But the idea has caught on and it has gained the support of industry leaders. Today we have 58 members (see box). What we are saying is regulations are fine but we want to work with the regulatory bodies to enforce them. Besides, there are some organisations that are young and unaware of basic international safety."

According to him, implementing safety improves the quality of build, morale of workers and the reputation of the organisation, as well as the schedule. "This means a faster build on projects. An accident or an incident delays a project. You have to look at the broader picture. Organisations need to invest in safety and health practices," he said.

"In January 2008, we formed the group in Dubai and proposed a way forward for the year. This included expansion and developing focus groups, which look at different sensitive issues in the industry to deliver outcomes. Our members are mature organisations and we hope to educate other organisations into adopting the same standards and help raise the benchmark of construction practices for health, safety and welfare."

The focus is purely Dubai at the moment. "Right now we are focusing entirely on Dubai. If we were to expand at the pace that people ask us to, we will lose the true concept," said McGrath. "We have been asked to expand to Kuwait, Saudi and Egypt. We have had expressions of interest up to the UK."

So far the organisation has been growing by word of mouth. It has standard templates so that privacy is maintained. "One of our initiatives is to develop internal communication portals for any issues related to construction sites. The names of the companies are blanked out to maintain privacy and we model it on a Build Safe Dubai template so that no one gets fingers pointed at them," he said.

"And the industry does want to collaborate in terms of information. Many of our members are putting in their time and effort to make this work – from offering us their meeting rooms, to sharing information to giving technical guidance and so on."

Key performance indicators will ensure quality. "This is not a group that only wants to put up a façade. We expect members to perform, participate and follow KPIs. It is really encouraging to see the response so far but we have to also be careful about the messages that we send out since we have significant organisations who are watching us," said Mcgrath.

"Quality is important. But the intention is not to drop people overnight for not complying. In a year, apart from justifying improvements in accordance with the members' charter, all members will be subject to random audits. Our chairperson encourages organisations to release figures of accidents on site as well as information on how they tackled the issues. This will help other members learn. Until we create consistency, we will see different levels of implementation of safety standards," he said.

Reinforcing the importance of construction safety, the Big 5 PMV – an exhibition of the equipment used in the construction industry – which will run alongside the Big 5 construction exhibition at the DIEC in November, has announced its full support to Build Safe Dubai.

"The Big 5 PMV has provided us with an opportunity and given us a stand to represent safety in Dubai. We appreciate the opportunity to get an international audience because we want Dubai to be recognised for looking at safety more seriously and raise the benchmark to make it as important as sustainability," said McGrath.

"We want workers to go home without injury. And firms to recognise that business-wise safety is 'the smart thing to do'," said McGrath.

New organisations can formally join the body on October 7, when it next holds its 'Safety in Construction' discussion group meeting. A long-term focus of Build Safe Dubai will be best practice alerts and creating a comprehensive website, he said.



FOCUS GROUPS

Focus Groups that have been launched:

01 - Pre - Construction (Design and Management) Health and Safety

02 - The role of safety professionals working in construction industry

The following eight new focus groups are being planned:

03 - Upcoming changes in road safety standards to be implemented by the RTA

04 - Best practice guide for labour camps

05 - Fire risk at sites

06 - How to tackle, control and reduce at-risk behaviour by workers on construction sites

07 - The environmental impact of construction

08 - Generating safety awareness among construction workers

09 - Review current and future UAE legislation and local regulations

10 - Standards for construction site fire safety



FACT FILE

- Chairperson: Grahame McCaig, General Manager, Dutco Balfour Beatty Construction Group)

- Deputy Chairperson: Chris Doyle (Head of EHS & Sustainability – Continental Europe, Middle East & Africa (Cemea) – Bovis Lend Lease International)

Current Signatory Members: Ace – Association for Consultancy and Engineering, Al Fara'a Group, Al Futtaim Carillion, Al Futtaim Tarmac, Al Habtoor Engineering, Al Huda Contracting Company, Al Jaber L.E.G.T Engineering & Contracting (Alec), Al Masaood Bergum, Al Naboodah Construction Group, Al Naboodah Laing O'Rourke, Al Shafar, Alcan International Network (Gulf), Arabtec UAE, ARUP, Atkins, BAUER Spezialtiefbau, Bovis Lend Lease International, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, Cracknell, Crane Safety Forum, Daribni, DreamWorks Dubailand, Dutco Balfour Beatty, E.C. Harris, Emirates Technical & Thermal Systems, Eurolink Safety, Fino International, Halcrow, Hastie International – UAE, Hyder Consulting Middle East, JTMJV (Japan Turkey Metro Joint Venture), Kier Dubai, Lighthouse

Club of Dubai, Locke Carey, Mammut Group, Mirdif Security & Safety Consultants, Mott MacDonald, Murray & Roberts, Nasa Multiplex, NSCC, Parkway International, Philippine Society of Safety Professionals (PSSP-UAE), Rotary Humm, Royal Haskoning, Sama Contracting, Santis International, SGB, Shapoorji Pallonji, SNC-LAVALIN Gulf Contractors, Soletanche Bachy, TAS Middle East, Thompson Cole, Traks – Me, Trans Gulf, Virsagi Management Dubai, Vision Build Group, Wade Adams Contracting, WSP Middle East.