Hi John, yes I have as have many of my colleagues. I can tell you for definite that the police target the safety manager in the case of a serious accident or fatallity. I have a number of colleagues who are currently either being dealt with by the courts or have been found guilty and sentenced despite them having no real involvement in the incident. The first question asked by the police on arrival is "where is the safety manager". This is primarily because they have a completely different mind set here in the UAE regarding safety professionals. We are viewed as "responsible" for safety and so if there is an accident then generally we will get our collars felt despite our SMS stating that the responsibility is firmly with the construction teams. I have recently had a very serious accident in which a lump of concrete struck an operative on the head from a significant height and smashed it like a boiled egg. It took the police over a week to attend the scene and when they did arrive they wanted the safety manager. Fortunately I had returned to the UK the day the police arrived for a few days and so they took my safety engineer instead. All of my colleagues are very concerned about the attitude of the authorities here to us in what is a very vulnerable position. The police seem to have no real consistent approach to accidents and certainly have little understanding of the concepts of risk managment. Much pressure is placed on the safety teams by the companies and construction teams here generally. The projects are flooded with untrained and inexperienced labour who need our help to effectively stay alive whilst at work. They generally have no idea of the risks which they are exposed to and have a very lax attitude to safe working. Indeed, they will follow your instructions to the letter-they will happily use a harness with shock absorbing lanyard at any height-even 1m because they have been told by the construction team that they must use a harness at all times. They will happily clip to plastic pipes etc as well because they dont know better. There is a huge need for education and enforcement here from us safety professionals. Anyway-in answer to your question-Yes we are under much scrutiny because of our job titles in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It makes it a very uncomfortable place to be if you value your freedom and your passport

Soft .v. Hard One thing people need to get to grips with is that we in the UK have a very soft approach to our prison's and other such areas in our criminal system for many areas inclusive of H&S breaches therefore if something does happen our sentences and the conditions that they are served in are very soft whereas other countries have a very hard approach A person I know spent some time in a Spanish; never mind a middle / far eastern or American continent prison and he was badly affected thereafter irrespective of what happen inside. His misdemeanor was one that in the UK would not have reached a court never mind a prison! My warning is that people need to fully understand their position before working abroad as in my days western Europeans were treated differently - that situation has changed To quote one world leader 'we do not have as many laws as the UK but we enforce ours!'

I'd say that calum answered your question very well!

I have not personally experienced this but I have heard of many cases in the U.A.E where the HSE Professional is held accountable to the authorities for serious incidents. There is a generally a mindset that HSE staff are responsible for everyones safety, and that doesn't just apply to the police force, as the many managers and supervisors feel its not their responsibility but that of the HSE Dept. Therefore the police ask who's responsible and all fingers point to the safety guy! Unfortunately its guilty until proved innocent in U.A.E opposed to innocent until proved guilty.

You are absolutely spot on Chris, it is true theat vthe mind set here is to blame the safety guy as he is considered to be responsible for all safety metters. It is a very hard task here to change that mind set unless you have the support of some one senior in the organisation who understands the recognised Western way of risk management. Onwards and upwards must be the cry..........

Calum, correct. I was the safety guy there when I first started out, and it is a stressful job to say the least as all issues related to safety are dealt with by the safety dept, unless like you said you have that support further up the food chain.

Ha Ha Ha-very good question. I doubt it though i do think they make the rules up as they go here. No consistency and it all seems to depend on who you are dealing with. They even have posher cells here so you dont have to share with the labourers etc.....lol. Madness! Regards from the sandpit. C

OMG........