Chairman of Oman Insurance Company (OIC) Matar Humaid Al Tayer has underlined the need for adopting global best practices and higher safety standards in an effort to position the UAE construction industry as a centre of excellence.

“The UAE in general, and Dubai in particular, are witnessing a continuing boom in the construction sector, with a host of new iconic mega projects. These massive developments are exposed to enormous risks such as fire, collapse, natural calamities and other accidents due to negligence,” said Al Tayer delivering the welcome address at a seminar on ‘Risk Awareness and Protection in the Construction industry’.

Al Tayer called for heightened awareness in construction industry towards risk exposure in construction projects and insurance protection available. These, he said, were two crucial factors for successful completion of projects.

A host of renowned speakers and insurance experts addressed the issue of risks in the construction sector through detailed presentations.

Steve Seaber, OBE, DMS, FIFire E, Associate BRE Global/Loss Prevention Certification Board, while speaking on “Risk and Safety Management on Construction Sites”, singled out the rising number of fires and worksite accidents in the Gulf and urged for measures like action through legislation, corporate responsibility, effective site management, supervisory management and personal responsibility.

Presenting a case study on a Dubai-based company, Seaber recalled how the firm, working 13 million man-hours in 1998, lost 48,057 man-hours through industrial accidents.

He revealed how by focusing on safety improvements and investing in the right equipment and tools, the company succeeded in reducing the incidents of accidents to 6,600 man-hours and raised productivity to 28 million man-hours by 2006.

Chief underwriting officer, Ace Insurance, MENA region, Brad J. Berg provided fresh insights into different aspects on Contractor All Risks (CAR) and Erection All Risks (EAR), and explained how natural perils, human threats and engineering perils could throw all equations to the winds, if stake holders do not take proper measures.

Oman Insurance Company, one of the biggest players in the insurance business, organised the seminar as part of its corporate social responsibility and in continuation of a series of programs to raise issues of interest to the community and industry.

The last one was on “Freight Forwarders Liability Insurance”, which raised several vital issues related to the freight forwarding industry. – TradeArabia News Service