The Taqdeer Award, which began last year as a method of rewarding construction companies with good worker welfare practices, is being extended across the emirate into free zones.
The award programme covers larger companies that have more than 100 employees. Companies are given a star rating of between one and five stars based on working and living conditions provided for staff, and those given four and five star ratings are honoured at a ceremony and gain preferred status when bidding for new government contracts.
The award is now being extended to free zone companies, including factories producing construction materials, Dubai Municipality has said.
The municipality has been hosting industry awareness campaigns informing companies of the criteria and the participation requirements for firms taking part in the second cycle of the awards, which will take place later this year.
It said that in the first year of the awards, more than 280 contractors took part with over half a million workers. In the second wave, it said that of the 10,000 factories operating in free zones, some 290 of these operate in the construction sector, and that these also employ over half a million workers.
The Taqdeer Award is an initiative that was introduced in 2015 by Dubai's Crown Prince and chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The first awards event took place in November last year and saw 42 companies receiving honours for their efforts.
Speaking at last year's event, Major-General Obaid Muhair Bin Suroor, chairman of Taqdeer Award, said that he expected at least 100 companies to participate in the second phase.
"Our goal is to encourage companies across all sectors to set such benchmarks as Dubai," he said.
© Zawya 2017
