Fatal child accidents prompt building safety revision

Building owners could be required to make modifications to the structure while new buildings will have to meet new safety standards under a new law being considered by the UAE following a series of deadly accidents involving the fall of children from building windows, press reports said on Sunday.

A unit entrusted with child protection at the ministry of interior said it would also intensify measures to educate families on the need to protect their children and cut risks of their possible fall through open windows in high building levels.

“We are currently revising safety measures and standards at all buildings to ensure landlords stick to these measures and new buildings meet those standards….we need to take measures to protect children from fall through windows and off balconies,” said Major General Nasser Al Nuaimi, head of the supreme committee for child protection at the ministry of interior.

“This will be done through coordination with the competent departments at the ministry of interior in the first phase and with all other relevant parties in the second phase,” he told the Dubai-based Arabic language daily Emirat Alyoum.

He said the recent spate of child fall accidents was a result of negligence by their families, who have left their children at home on their own as well as lack of awareness of the necessary safety measures.

“Another major factor seems to be a flaw in the safety specifications and requirements at buildings, balconies and windows….these accidents have prompted us to give priority to measures to ensure children’s safety…..this can be done by increasing the awareness of families of the need to give more attention to their children and by asking landlords to shoulder part of the responsibility by ensuring their buildings meet safety specifications.”

Nuaimi said landlords would be required under new regulations to ensure their housing units meet the new safety measures before handing them over to tenants, adding that such rules are already enforced in many countries.

Quoted by the paper, another official said the child protection centre at the ministry of interior had already prepared brochures in Arabic, English, Urdu and other languages involving information on safety procedures for families having children and living in high building levels.

“These brochures defined five main indicators that could be useful in the protection of children against falling from the balcony or the window,” said Lt Colonel Faisal Al Shammari, the centre’s director.

He said they include the need for permanent watch of children while playing on the balcony or near open windows, the need for families to keep all windows shut while away from their children, fixing of metal bars to block any opening for children, installation of barriers to prevent children from opening windows, and keeping all furniture at a reasonable distance from windows.