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Dubai: Summer last year proved dangerous for construction workers in Dubai, recording the highest number of construction-related injuries that required surgery, the Rashid Hospital Trauma Centre reported.

Construction injuries averaged 237 cases per month from May to December last year.

August had the highest number of surgical cases with 277, followed by May with 268 and June 266.

Cases declined somewhat after September with December recording the lowest number of cases at 182.

Dr Ruben Peralta, head of trauma service at the Trauma Centre, told Gulf News at the sidelines of the Arab Health Surgery Conference, that occupational safety was a big concern in Dubai.

"Sixty per cent of all the cases (from May to December) we receive are construction-related.

"About 30 per cent are road traffic accidents and the rest include accidental falls, assaults and attempted suicides,"he said.

He added it was too soon to know why construction-related cases tapered off towards the end of the year or whether the trend would last.

"We've seen it drop. We don't know why, maybe because of the long holiday period [in December]," he said.

Site safety regulations require site workers to wear hard hats. Other equipment includes wearing safety harnesses for those working at heights, and items such as safety goggles for those working with welding equipment, for example.

For the whole of 2008, more than 50 per cent of cases received at the Trauma Centre were industrial incidents, while 34 per cent were road traffic accidents.

The Trauma Centre is the only centre in Dubai capable of handling major and critical emergencies on a large scale.

It receives 10,000 major cases a year.

arniegang wrote:http://www.gulf-news.com/nation/General/10280929.html


Dohhhhhhhhhhhh "we have seen accidents drop off in December probably due to long holidays"

The correct answer by anyone with more than 3 brain cells is:

"the accidents in construction are down because there is less construction"

Dubai: Summer last year proved dangerous for construction workers in Dubai, recording the highest number of construction-related injuries that required surgery, the Rashid Hospital Trauma Centre reported.

Construction injuries averaged 237 cases per month from May to December last year.

August had the highest number of surgical cases with 277, followed by May with 268 and June 266.

Cases declined somewhat after September with December recording the lowest number of cases at 182.

Dr Ruben Peralta, head of trauma service at the Trauma Centre, told Gulf News at the sidelines of the Arab Health Surgery Conference, that occupational safety was a big concern in Dubai.

"Sixty per cent of all the cases (from May to December) we receive are construction-related.

"About 30 per cent are road traffic accidents and the rest include accidental falls, assaults and attempted suicides,"he said.

He added it was too soon to know why construction-related cases tapered off towards the end of the year or whether the trend would last.

"We've seen it drop. We don't know why, maybe because of the long holiday period [in December]," he said.

Site safety regulations require site workers to wear hard hats. Other equipment includes wearing safety harnesses for those working at heights, and items such as safety goggles for those working with welding equipment, for example.

For the whole of 2008, more than 50 per cent of cases received at the Trauma Centre were industrial incidents, while 34 per cent were road traffic accidents.

The Trauma Centre is the only centre in Dubai capable of handling major and critical emergencies on a large scale.

It receives 10,000 major cases a year.

arniegang wrote:http://www.gulf-news.com/nation/General/10280929.html

Dohhhhhhhhhhhh "we have seen accidents drop off in December probably due to long holidays"

The correct answer by anyone with more than 3 brain cells is:

"the accidents in construction are down because there is less construction"

Captain Australia wrote:One of those cases came from my work the other day. We had some contractors in putting up security screens on the 1st floor windows, probably 5 metres high. They had NO safety equipment at all, and one of the guys was welding with no mask and just a piece of cardboard that he would throw in front of the welder when he was using it!!!

Anyway, they had a dodgy scaffold rigged up with just a single foot-wide wooden plank at the top for the guy to stand on. When moving from window to window they just released the wheel locks at the bottom and pushed the thing to the next window, with the guy still at the top. It caught on something while they were pushing it and the whole thing came down with the guy on the top of it.

It landed right outside my window with a loud bang. The poor bastard broke his lower leg and his wrist, but he's luck he wasn't killed. I feel bad for the guy and wonder what will happen to him. He can't work now so what? Will he lose his job and get deported?

michaeldubai wrote:

Captain Australia wrote:One of those cases came from my work the other day. We had some contractors in putting up security screens on the 1st floor windows, probably 5 metres high. They had NO safety equipment at all, and one of the guys was welding with no mask and just a piece of cardboard that he would throw in front of the welder when he was using it!!!

Anyway, they had a dodgy scaffold rigged up with just a single foot-wide wooden plank at the top for the guy to stand on. When moving from window to window they just released the wheel locks at the bottom and pushed the thing to the next window, with the guy still at the top. It caught on something while they were pushing it and the whole thing came down with the guy on the top of it.

It landed right outside my window with a loud bang. The poor bastard broke his lower leg and his wrist, but he's luck he wasn't killed. I feel bad for the guy and wonder what will happen to him. He can't work now so what? Will he lose his job and get deported?

One law I would like to see introduced is to hold the building owner and contractor management held responsible for accidents on site. The immediate supervisor is immediately taken into custody - No one gives a damn about him and the same tragedies would continue. This kind of law would force them to take safety seriously and see a magic drop in accident figures.