Posted By KEVIN O'KANE
I am intrested in contacting any H&S professionals who have experiences of working in Dubia.

Posted By Steve Wood
Usually I unsheath my pedantic sword at mis-spelings and wrong grammatical, but I try to keep a lid on it in this particular forume becouse it's more important that people get the infromation they nede than everything being speld correctly! and usually we're doing it quickly, remeembre!

Posted By Eric Burt
Keving

I did sum teachinge in Dubia a cupple of yers agow and it woz an expeeerienz.

The different culture takes some getting used to, especially with prayer times varying each day.

I found the people there to be extremely friendly and I was treated very well. (I was teaching in the Emirates Towers hotel). The candidates were from all parts of the Gulf and were fairly up to date with health and safety management systems. I was quite surprised at how interested in UK H&S law they were.

There were other instructors teaching HR subjects in the same hotel as me and the Arabs gave one of them a really hard time as he didn't know his stuff (and they refused to have him back in the classroom) so it appears to me that they are willing to pay whatever it takes for good instructors but will not tolerate a second rate service.

I would love the chance to go back there - I think it broadens one's mind to work in another country.

Good luck mate - let us know how you get on.

Regards,


Eric

Posted By KEVIN O'KANE
OK, OK take me outside and shoot me.It has being a long accident investigation, but I won't be resigning just yet Paul but thanks for your advise, AT least I know were to come when I need some career advise.I would still like to hear from anyone regarding this TOPICAL Subject.Now can I get back to my application form for countdown.....

regards

a sorry,remorseful member

Posted By Eric Burt
Kevin

I would seriously have a chat with someone from the Foreign office if you are thinking of going to UAE because I cannot see the justification for Richard's caution.

I have worked in that part of the world recently (2000) teaching health and safety and in a former life when I used to navigate oil tankers and I have never had any problems there.

I am not advocating a foolhardy approach especially given the current situation in Iraq, but be careful not to tar all countries in the region with the same brush. Dubai itself is quite an experience - just look at some of the hotels they have got!!

Regards,

Eric

Posted By Richard Spencer
This needs a response so here it is:

Navigating tankers through the Straits of Hormuz and spending a couple of day’s tank washing and filling up and inerting tanks whilst onboard a crude carrier is one thing, miles from nowhere and sometimes so far out to sea you can’t see the land.

Nice to be caviller and look thought ‘rose coloured glasses’ from downtown Surrey, when you not the one going in, dangerous and uncertain times.

I think one need’s to be aware of where the place is geographically and I suggest that you should take a look at the map.

Times have changed and so have ‘hearts and minds’ of the Arab world or don’t you read the news.

Surrounded by ‘friendly’ countries – all ‘allies’ of the coalition force in Iraq particularly the Brits – hmmm, sounds as though you’d be among friends in sunny Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, if you live long enough to get a tan.

Being European and a citizen of the ‘occupation force’ at the present time is enough to get you killed. If you don’t believe me try it.

Com’on Eric ‘get real’, and give some advice based on the current hazards and the inherent risk, isn’t that the nature of safety management.

Sounds as though you might be an armchair warrior?

Richard Lt Cdr RAN (retired)

Posted By Richard Spencer
Chris

Good on ya! You made a choice that was high risk e.g. not knowing anything about the region or its people prior to going.

You have found that the place is safe and children play in the streets – Great news.

Until one day you come home and find that someone has kidnapped your wife or children.

The people you know will all condemn the action and sympathise with you, but this will not remove the agony of not knowing what has happened to your loved ones.

If they are killed in a most horrific manner how will you rationalise the decision to move your family to a region that has been made unstable by American foreign policy aided by the decision of the Brit Government to support G.W. Bush.

It is not the normal Arab people that we Europeans of a Judeo-Christians background fear, it is the savagery that is vented against the so called, ‘soft targets’ of those closest to you. The actions of these criminals perpetrate such heinous crimes against humanity, perversely, in the name of Islam.

You will never know if they were local UAE people or a band of Islamic foreigners that manage so easily to embed themselves in the oil wealth of the Middle East.

Most of us have no ill will against the Arabs, even though they are culturally, socially, morally, religious, and ethically different.

I have a neighbour who is a Lebanese Moslem. He said to me, Islam is the Middle East and the Middle East is Islam.

No matter how you try to rationalise the occurrence of a foreseeable event you will not make sense of why it occurred.

The Middle East is in my view a place where, apart from the banal American introductions, time had stood still.

Their politics and traditions date from the 6th Century and have not changed from the teachings and writings of Mohammed. No state in the Middle East is a democracy and is not likely to become one despite the massive efforts of the Americans in troubled Iraq.

Whilst it is nice to provide us in the first world, of this view after a 3 year sojourn in which you describe an idyllic setting in the Middle Eastern sun, I suggest you read the history of the place before attempting to look thought the rose coloured glasses at what you think is the reality.

You, in Arab terms are an infidel and as such will never be trusted because you are not one of the faithful.

I have had many offers to work in the Middle East and I have turned them all down, my sentiment is that I don’t want the money that badly.

There are safer places to live so don’t wait until it to late.

Richard

Posted By Hilary Charlton
I had a couple of friends who went out to live and work in Dubai for three years - they absolutely loved it. His parents had lived/worked in Dubai all the time I had known him (15 years at that time) and then he went with his wife and two girls on a three year contract. They were devastated to come home but as the contract was up there was no option.

At the end of the day, it is a moslem country and you have to abide by their rules and regulations and expect the consequences if you don't do so.

When in Rome, do as the Romans.

Hilary

Posted By Kelvin George
Kevin

I spent 5 weeks there baby sitting a boat in drydock back in 1996.

Now I would not totally disagree with Richard about the present climate, but I would be supprised if Dubai is actually much different now than it was then.

My word of warning is that in the 5 weeks I was there I observed the fact that the expats were a bunch of sad b@@@@@ds. Every Monday night was the Red Lion at the Metropolitan, Tuesday was somewhere else etc etc. Every Monday night the conversation was the same with the same people saying exactly the same comments.

Ok you do not pay tax, but you will buy gaudy gold bracelets and necklaces - everybody does and it drips from them - and end up with no more money than if you stayed home. Also you can not own property because it is all rented, so you can't even invest in property.

Be very careful before you go. If you want to make loadsa money then you have to have a very strong will and a good plan of action because it is too easy to fall into the same trap as everyone else.

Hope it all goes well for you

Cheers Kelvin

Posted By Kelvin George
Steve

Your problem was that wanted to visit somewhere outside the dotted line called M25 - therefore your pretty much stuffed for getting info out of a Londoner.

Lets face it north of Watford we are still grateful for Hadrian's wall, waiting for the inventention of elastic trickery and are longing to see what all the fuss is about carpets.

Nothing wrong with wattle and dorb (I think I spelt that correctly).

Kelvin

Posted By Laurie
Don't forget to take out your subscription to "Fair Trials Abroad" before you go!! (That's a joke everybody - I have been to Dubai, and Sharjah, and Bahrein and I've been treated very civilly in some places, and stoned, with real stones, in others)

Laurie