ALDAR Properties' safety initiative achieves one million man-hours with zero injuries

The initiative has been developed by ALDAR to promote safety throughout its work sites and to reduce the number of accidents involving injury.

The ceremony was held at the impressive Al Mamoura construction site in Abu Dhabi. Al Mamoura will be the location of the prestigious new Headquarters for Mubadala Development Company and Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and is due for completion in 2007. The principal contractor, Consolidated Contractors International Company (CCIC), employs more than 900 labourers here and to date there have been no accidents involving injury.

Presenting the awards were ALDAR's Chief Corporate Support Officer, Abdalla Zamzam, and ALDAR's Health, Safety & Environment Manager, Andrew Broderick.

"We are delighted to hand over these initial awards under our one million man-hours Health and Safety initiative," said Abdalla Zamzam.

"At ALDAR, we believe that an excellent company is by definition a safe company. Since we are committed to excellence, minimizing the risk to people, plant and products is inseparable from all our other company objectives."

He added: "Our commitment to safety starts at the very top of our organisation - where senior managers provide the leadership necessary to inspire staff at all levels in pursuing health and safety objectives as rigorously as operational ones."

The awards were presented to ALDAR Project Manager Raffy Astour, ALDAR Safety Manager at Al Mamoura, Mohammed Hassan, CCIC Safety Manager Haitham Mahmoud and to CCIC General Manager, Munif Mahmoud.

"By ensuring that there are enough competent people, time and money to carry out the job safely, ALDAR has secured a consistent track record in health and safety across all its construction sites and offices," commented Andrew Broderick. "We regularly review the status of health and safety committees and practitioners, and encourage a high visibility for them within the company."

ALDAR's commitment to health and safety starts at the tender stage - through the selection of companies with a proven track record in Health, Safety and Environmental protection. It continues on site, through the provision of personal protective equipment and operation of an open door policy for health and safety issues. This in turn encourages workers to raise issues of concern. Workers are also encouraged to take personal ownership and responsibility for their own health and safety - as well as for others - and are supplied with regular information and training.

ALDAR's 'one million man-hours with zero injuries' programme will continue, with further awards being announced in the future.