The UK is at the forefront of the Growing British Safety Presence. We know safety and we have excellent safety standards. We’ve made our mistakes, but we have learnt from them. Lessons are often learnt from experience, and given our industrial and technical heritage we have more than our fair share of that.

What put us at the forefront of the world of safety? In 1896 Sir John Wolfe Barry (President of the Institution of Civil Engineers) played a prominent role in the development of industry standardisation, urging the ICE‘s Council to form a committee to focus on standards for iron and steel sections. This led to a committee being formed by the ICE, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institution of Naval Architects and the Iron and Steel Institute who first met on 26th April. 1901. With the Institution of Electrical Engineers, which joined the following year, these bodies were the founding institutions of what is today the British Standards Institution or BSI.

With so many leading British organisations involved in this important field we have a great opportunity to win more business here in the UAE and regionally. Not only because local organisations are developing CSR and sustainability reporting but also because we are seeing an exponential growth generally in the safety industry. Standards are improving and safety is now being included in many stages of procurement. Building regulations are also becoming more rigorous. This is where the British supply chain model stands tall and we see a great bilateral dialogue developing between the UAE and the UK.

Abu Dhabi Vocational Education and Training Institutes (ADVETI) is a leading governmental vocational training provider. They have been tasked to establish a National Development Committee for Environment Health and Safety. They are currently seeking support from industry stakeholders in the development of National Occupational Skills Standards and Qualifications, specific to the UAE.

Siobhan Connolly, curriculum consultant at ADVETI, has hosted several awareness-raising seminars supported by the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) UAE Branch and the International Institute of Risk 6. Safety Management (IIRSM), as well as the local regulator Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety Health Centre (OSHAD) to encourage input and gain stakeholder involvement in the development of the qualification.

IOSH is the chartered body for health and safety professionals. They are the world’s biggest professional health and safety membership organisation with over 46,500 members worldwide, 1,500 of them associated with the UAE branch. They seek to be the voice of the profession, campaigning on issues that affect millions of working people.

IIRSM was founded in 1975 and is a community-minded organisation, run by members, for members. They started in the UK, but are now very active across the Middle East with branch offices in Abu Dhabi serving their members across the region. Here they’re working with the Ministry of Labour on the development of the new “Federal Construction Regulations’ unifying Federal construction regulations across all of the seven emirates for construction activities.

The Institution of Civil Engineers, meanwhile, makes health, safety, environment and sustainability core attributes of its young professionals’ development objectives and vital for their progression to becoming full members. The Institution, which has members around the world including the UAE, also provides expertise on safety through panels. Advisory bodies and was the originator of the British Standards Institution.

Kiran Kumar Fleddy, Atkins OSE Manager, says safety is a core value which forms the bedrock of every decision Atkins makes in its business at all levels.

“One of our core beliefs is that safe value addition is a social and ethical commitment. Our success is when every one of our staff and associates are happy, healthy and reaches home safely. We make a difference by shaping proactive safety mind-sets, attitudes and behaviours which stay with our workforce even after they grow into future roles in other companies resulting in sustainable, safe communities”. 

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) is the UK Governments primary regulator for workplace health and safety and is widely seen as being among the best in the world. In Abu Dhabi HSE have primarily been working with OSHAD to build up the capacity of their team and support them in developing the regulatory regime in the emirate.