|
Construction safety key theme at Intersec as worker accident figures published
Nearly half of all of the accidents on construction sites in Dubai involve workers falling from heights according to statistics from the Dubai Municipality. Last year the emirate recorded 249 accidents on construction sites, 47.8% of which involved labourers falling from heights. Falls from 2004 to 2007 constituted 45% of a total 865 accidents. Other accidents included incidents involving cranes and other machinery and those involving fires and electric shocks.
Dubai Municipality has recently published a manual for construction companies providing details on the latest health & safety legislation. According to a report in Gulf News , the Building Inspection Department will increase its site visits from 150 visits per day to between 400 and 500 visits per day. Breaching construction site safety regulations can result in fines and even closure of the site itself.
The importance of the issue will also be stressed at next year’s Intersec exhibition and conference where it will be a key theme. There will be specialist displays on working safely at height illustrating the latest practices and techniques in active and passive fall protection. The exhibition and conference will take place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from January 18 to 20, 2009.
“The rapid increase in the number of construction projects in the UAE and other Gulf countries has caused an alarming number of accidents at construction sites,” said Eckhard Pruy, CEO of Epoc Messe Frankfurt, organisers of Intersec. “According to research, construction projects in excess of US$2.4 trillion are now underway, with the majority of developments being carried out in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“High investments in infrastructure and construction industry do often stand in opposition to required safety standards. A variety of minimum safety standards has been implemented by the government, but the biggest challenge is to make companies adhere to these regulations by imposing fines and sanctions against those who break the rules,” added Pruy.
Speaking at Intersec in 2008, Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) president Ray Hurst reported that there are currently around 2.3 million work-related deaths worldwide annually, with the construction industry accounting for about 60,000 of these fatalities.“That is one death every ten minutes occurring in the construction industry somewhere in the world,” said Hurst.
Occupational safety and health is becoming a core priority in the Middle East. Through a variety of workshops and presentations, the 2009 IOSH Middle East Conference taking place during Intersec 2009 will look at the importance of maintaining best practice.
Stolen UK JCB tracked and recovered in Sharjah nine days later using A-Trak GPS security system
 A JCB skid-steer loader
A JCB skid-steer loader stolen from the UK was successful tracked down in Sharjah using a GPS security system. A-Trak is just one of the security mechanisms used by the JCB’s owners, A-Plant, to prevent plant theft.
A-Trak was developed jointly by A-Plant and Enigma Vehicle Systems. Enigma hosts the A-Trak system on behalf of A-Plant and, by following the satellite reports from the tracking devices in the stolen skid-steer loader, it found that the machine left the country from Southampton docks nine days after it was stolen. Enigma contacted Southampton docks to get the timetable and schedule of all the ships sailing out of Southampton on the same date the skid-steer departed from the UK and found the ship on which the machine was transported was the Socol 2 bound for Gibraltar. The machine was subsequently carried across the Mediterranean Sea and down the Suez Canal to Oman, where it was unloaded.
Through further tracking, Enigma was able to pinpoint the new location of the machine in the neighbouring UAE state of Sharjah. Working alongside Enigma’s joint venture partner based in Dubai, Enigma was able to arrange for an undercover representative to visit the location in Sharjah who found the machine and the people holding it. To ensure the skid-steer loader was not sold on, Enigma arranged for a deposit to be paid to hold the machine in place, while Interpol working between England and Sharjah completed the necessary paper work to recover the machine.
Eleven days after the initial theft in England, Ian Keam-George, chief executive of Enigma Vehicle Systems, arrived in Dubai with DataTag scanning equipment to aid in the identification of the equipment. Three days later, the Sharjah police took two suspects into custody together with not only the skid-steer loader, but also a generator stolen from another plant hire company in the Manchester area.
Andy Wortley, IT director at APlant, said: “Enigma has been very flexible in the way they have developed the system with us. The ability to track stolen machines abroad is a standard feature of the systems developed by Enigma and the recovery of the skid-steer loader after a trip of well over a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean is a brilliant display of the powers offered by A-Trak.”
The A-Trak system utilises mobile GPRS devices, fitted to A-Plant equipment which provides internet tracking and telematics information by communicating with host servers with bespoke software running to decode the incoming data.
A-Trak is one of an expanding number of fully integrated on-line services that A-Plant customers can access through the Extranet at the company’s website www.aplant.com (opens a new window) . When the customer accesses the ATrak system via the Extranet, they can obtain a wealth of information about the status of the equipment they have hired, to check that the equipment is operating as desired, is being used properly and that it is at its intended location.
Video Smoke detection solution for Palm tunnel
D-Tec – part of AD Group – has announced that its partner in the Middle East region, BSS-ME, has supplied, tested, and commissioned seven advanced IP-based, NetVu Connected, FireVu units to provide a state-of-the-art CCTV-based VSD (Video Smoke Detection) solution for the main tunnel at the famous Palm Jumeirah man-made island in Dubai.
BSS-ME’s FireVu based solution has the ability to deliver a fast track response to potential fire detecting smoke in a matter of seconds. Unlike conventional solutions that struggle in the confines of a tunnel the operators of the 1.4km long, 40 metres wide, undersea link can be assured of the fire safety of this vital connection between Palm Jumeirah’s spine and the main crescent part of the island.
The box-like Palm Jumeirah tunnel required 185,000 m3 of concrete and 30,000 tons of reinforcing steel – and has been designed and constructed to hold three individual tubes with the outer two tubes carrying three lanes of traffic and pedestrian walkways in each direction. The inner tube is used as a service tunnel and also in the event of an incident for emergency evacuation.
The FireVu units installed by BSSME are connected to 28 fixed CCTV cameras positioned strategically throughout the tunnel’s two outer tubes – 14 in each. Crucially, the cameras used for Video Smoke Detection are the same as those for security and other surveillance tasks – such as traffic management – in the tunnel, thus maximising the return on investment.
Malcolm Gatenby, sales director at BSS-ME said: “It has been a real privilege to be involved in this internationally recognised project and to be given the opportunity to demonstrate the capacity of FireVu to meet the Palm Jumeirah’s subsea tunnel’s exacting fire safety requirements. Working closely with D-Tec throughout the whole tendering, testing and commissioning process, we were able to have the solution up and running well within the agreed timescales, ensuring that the seven FireVu units were successfully integrated with the tunnel’s CCTV cameras and control centre. The all important commissioning process allowed the fine tuning of the advanced VSD to ensure the set-up took account of lighting and other local conditions.
“I believe that Video Smoke Detection is ideally suited to the challenges of today’s road tunnels, with their small cross sectional area and higher heat release rate should a fire develop, and hope that success at the Palm Jumeirah will lead to additional project wins in the fast growing MiddleEast market.”
Open Network Video Interface Forum launched
ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) is a new global open forum for the development of a standard network interface for network video products founded by Axis Communications, Bosch and Sony. ONVIF is an independent, non-profit organisation and interested parties may register to participate via the web site at www.onvif.org (opens a new window)www.onvif.org. The site provides information about the benefits of a global standard and answers to frequently asked questions.
The founders say that ONVIF is committed to accelerating the adoption of network video in the security market through a global open interface standard. The standard will define a common protocol for the exchange of information (such as device discovery, live video, audio, metadata and control information) between network video devices.
The ONVIF interface will provide interoperability between network video products regardless of manufacturer. It will become even easier for end users, integrators, consultants and manufacturers to take advantage of the possibilities offered by network video, resulting in more cost-effective and flexible solutions, expanded market opportunities and reduced risk.
|