Guest blog – Geoff Bottomley

If you can’t stand the heat

Abu Dhabi is the capital and the second largest metropolis in the United Arab Emirates and lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. Abu Dhabi houses important offices of the federal government, and is the seat for the United Arab Emirates Government. The city generates 56.7percent of the GDP and produces 10 percent of the world’s oil. Its more famous cousin, Dubai produces very little oil and gas, and relies more heavily on tourism. The recent credit crunch saw large amounts of construction work put on hold or shelved in Dubai and the rest of the world. Abu Dhabi was the least affected thanks to its solid economy and focus on sustainable growth.

In the middle of the capital stands the prestigious, the Arabian Construction Company’s (AAC) $1.2billion Central Market Redevelopment (CMR) construction project, which consists of an 88 storey Residential Tower, a five star hotel, an four star hotel, offices, a shopping centre and underground parking.

I manage ACC’s site safety department and have a team that consists of seven safety engineers, all of whom are Asian, covering each asset over a two shift, six days a week period. During July 2008, the safety department was approached by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) who were interested in conducting research into environmental heat stress. The research would be instrumental in creating data for an active safety campaign that would run during the summer months of 2009.

As most people are aware the heat during the summer months is grueling reaching temperatures above 40C in the town, and even higher in the desert areas. It certainly is a health issue, in the region, with those workers who work outdoors experiencing heat stress and in some cases being hospitalised and there are even reports of loss of life.

The law in the UAE states that all work, outdoors, shall cease between the hours of 12.30 hrs and 15.00 hrs from the 1st July until the 31st August. This is a welcome restriction and it is strictly followed but the enforcement has been borne from no real scientific data other than that the hottest time of the day is during the midday hours, this does not take into account humidity, ambient temperature or air movement as important factors in heat stress. .

HADD senior advisor for occupational health, Darren Joubert, was the focal point in fortifying the arrangements for the study. Spearheading the research was Dr Graham Bates and Dr Veronica Miller of Curtin University, Perth, Australia. The criteria of research, prior to the arrival of the academics, was discussed and arranged. Each of the three main towers supplied 15 employees for two consecutive days, which resulted in 90 subject days of research data. The research subjects were of mixed race, age and trade and were available from 06:00 hrs at the start of each of the study days. Urine specific gravity and aural temperature was taken from each subject at the start and end of their shift and before lunch. They were also fitted with a heart rate monitor and results downloaded at the end of the day.

After receiving the data from the two Australian doctors, Darren Joubert began compiling an action plan to ensure that the valuable report would be at the centre of the heat stress campaign. A film crew was commissioned to visit the CMR project and film two information films, one for supervisors and occupational health and safety professionals in English and Arabic and one film for the workforce enforcing the five golden rules in five different languages including three Asian languages.

The key messages of the programme for workers were kept simple and included:

1.    Drink at least 2 litres of water every two to three hours.
2.    Add a little more salt to your meals
3.    In hot weather take regular breaks.
4.    Get plenty of sleep at night
5.    If unwell, tell your supervisor.

The opening few minutes of the awareness video displayed workers at the ACC workers accommodation camp drinking water before even getting to site, which got the message across. There was a certain buzz around CMR with the film crew being treated like actors from a Bollywood movie. Accompanying the two educational films was a procedures and training manual which was produced and developed by HAAD, with contents that included information on heat stress symptoms, TWL, hydration maintenance and first aid requirements. Large posters and booklets, in different languages, were also produced. It was passed around the workforce at CMR to gauge their response at some of the pictures featured. Various reactions and unusual feedback from the employees meant that last minute alterations were called for. One poster, classifying how you can identify if you are dehydrated from the colour of your urine, was particularly valuable. Professional health and safety personnel were also directed towards a web site www.haad-safe.ae for further advice and the valuable TWL calculator and instructions on how to use it.

The summer of 2009 saw a great deal of effort from all involved in circulating the information and heat stress materials to all construction sites in Abu Dhabi. The ACC site safety team obtained a Calor Heat Stress Meter (HSM) and took daily readings at 12 different locations and levels around CMR during the summer. This would assist in calculating the TWL, which would indicate when and where to be more vigilant and execute enhanced control measures. The data was fed back to HAAD for further evaluation.

A reduction was experienced in not only patients reporting sick with heat stress but in other heat related illnesses such as constipation, headaches, dizziness and heat related skin allergies, even with an increase of the workforce from 1300 in 2008 to 2500 employees in 2009. I cannot help but feel proud that I, along with HAAD, the Australian Doctors and ACC played a part in this campaign and maybe, just maybe saved a life.

Geoff Bottomley is the Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Manager at the Central Market Redevelopment (CMR) project, Abu Dhabi, UAE and has been working in the Middle East for nearly three years.
gbottomley@acccmr.ae