Abu Dhabi, June 20: Cases of heat-related illnesses from two large companies that implemented the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi’s (HAAD) ‘Safety in the Heat’ programme last year has shown a significant decrease of more than 50 per cent.
HAAD statistics showed that one company had a 79.5 per cent decrease in cases from 15.3 in 2008 to 1.16 case per 1,000 workers in 2009 while another company had a 50 per cent reduction in serious cases from 0.08 to 0.04 cases per 100,000 work hours.
According to Darren Joubert, senior advisor of Occupational Health at HAAD there are 2,717 cases of heat-related illnesses reported last year with August accounting for more than 700 cases.
“(These are) mainly from emergency departments, thus reflecting mostly severe cases. HAAD considers this as the ‘tip of the iceberg’ only as many cases, particularly mild and moderate cases and cases that are not seen by a healthcare facility and treated on-site may remain unreported,” he told Khaleej Times.
In an effort to decrease further the cases of heat illnesses, HAAD in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour (MoL), has re-launched the ‘Safety in the Heat’ summer programme this year with the modified and updated safety in the heat awareness and promotional material that covers all industry sectors.
“The HAAD Safety in the Heat’ programme is addressing all hot workplaces, indoors (and) outdoors… for workplaces such as metal smelters, mines etc. It was developed based on an Australian heat safety programme designed for the Australian mining industry. The concept of TWL (Thermal Work Limit) incorporates all relevant environmental factors such as wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature, globe temperature and wind speed, as well as clothing factors,” said Joubert.
“The aim is increasing awareness of heat stress and prevention of heat illness amongst employers and workers to decrease heat-related illnesses in the emirate during the summer and provide employers and workers at large and small companies with the knowledge, tools and resources to work safely in the heat,” said Dr Salim Adib, manager, Public Health and Research at HAAD.
There were 465 companies, 61 per cent of which are large construction companies that enrolled in the 2009 HAAD Safety in the Heat programme. These companies employed over 800,000 workers who are exposed to heat at around 4,500 worksites and 1,800 labour accommodations.
Since the launch of the programme on June 14 this year till Thursday, 51 companies have registered for the programme. A full range of training and awareness resources for Supervisors, Occupational Health and Safety Professionals, and workers on managing work in hot environments in summer is being given away for free to companies that registered for the programme.
The resources, which are written in Arabic, English, Urdu, Malayalam, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil, provide information on the dangers of heat exposure and advice on precautions and control measures for heat-illnesses prevention like identifying the signs and symptoms of dehydration and heat illness, and recommended fluid intake to maintain hydration as well as other precautions.
Symptoms of heat stress include excessive sweating, headache, nausea, giddiness, muscle cramps, weakness, fatigue, drowsiness, scanty dark urine, lack of concentration, irritability, hypotension and fainting. It could also result in heat stroke and death in extreme cases.
On Monday 140610, in an effort to protect workers from heat-related ailments, the MoL has extended this year’s summer midday break from two to three months starting from June 15 to September 15. As per the labour law, workers are not allowed to work under the sun between 12:30pm to 3pm.
The ministry has also tasked the employers to provide their employees with shaded place to rest during the midday break. HAAD said it aims to increase the number of companies registered in the.
–Agencies