Monday, Apr 30, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai Aiming to prevent accidents at construction sites due to faulty fixing of scaffolding, Dubai Municipality is planning to authorise more agencies to inspect the same, an official at the civic body told Gulf News.
Currently, there are two entities authorised to inspect scaffolding to ensure all safety precautions are in place.
“We are planning to increase this number so that the contractors and consultants have more options. We already have some applications in the pipeline and ideally would want to take this number up to ten by this year,” said Alya Esmail Al Marzouqi, head of the Inspecting Entities Accreditation Section of the Accreditation Department at Dubai Municipality.
Accidents
Earlier this year, an entire scaffolding of a building under construction on the Dubai-Al Ain road collapsed, killing two workers and injuring eight, raising concerns about adherence to safety practices.
The municipality has asked contractors and consultants at construction sites to get accreditation certificates from authorised entities.
“Increasing the number of accredited entities for scaffolding would give contractors more options and make things easier for them,” Alya said.
The inspection bodies visit construction sites and review the scaffolding design and other aspects to see if they are safe before issuing certificates or a report mentioning the changes needed to ensure safety.
By Shveta Pathak?Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
