Construction related work is one of the world's most dangerous occupations making construction safety of paramount importance. This is particularly true in countries that have rapidly growing economies. These countries are engaged in a large number of construction projects where frequently construction workers are foreign national who do not speak the language of the country where they are working. Although many researchers have investigated the field of construction safety, few have focused on these special problems.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is considered one of the fastest growing and most developed countries in the Middle East. Despite this fact, construction safety has not been seriously considered, and construction workers are threatened by possibility that a serious or fatal accident may occur while performing their job. Construction companies in the UAE value saving human lives and want to control the rising costs of accidents and reduce project delays due to accidents, but they don't know where to start. This study has the objective of assessing construction safety in the UAE and serves a first step in initiating a comprehensive safety program.
This study is an overall evaluation of the UAE construction safety performance based on both a literature review and survey of construction company safety performance and attitudes. The literature review covers previous studies about safety in the UAE construction industry, the nature of the construction industry, as well as case studies of construction site accidents. An evaluation of the United Arab Emirates Federal Law No.8 (labor law) is also included in the review so as to establish a basis for judging the quality of safety regulations and codes in construction industry. The survey of construction contractors in the UAE is used to gather information not available in the literature on individual company performance.
Despite the fact that the United Arab Emirates is a highly developed country, it lacks regulations and codes necessary for construction operation safety. The findings of this study, suggest that significant reforms are needed to establish either a new organization that will serve as an authority to guard and monitor safety in construction as well as other industries in the UAE, or alternatively, develop the current system into a more comprehensive one that will guard and regulate safety and health for all the industries in the UAE and especially the construction industry.