Safety is a way of life, says Rudolf Thoss, highlighting the need for standards to be enforced in the region to ensure safe equipment as well as a safety-conscious workforce. Safety, is a frequently-used expression by people of walks of life. However, the meaning and understanding of this word varies from person to person. Safety involves many aspects of our daily life such as in traffic, at home, at work. Use of safe equipment and vehicles is also of paramount importance to ensure our safety. Safety is a too complex and comprehensive issue influencing all areas of our life.

Safety at home

Thousands of housewives suffer accidents, often resulting in fatalities, as a result of unsafe electrical or other household equipment such as washing machines, dishwashers, hairdryers and kitchen machines. Unsafe electrical and mechanical installations, slippery floors, unsafe ladders and other reasons also cause accidents.

Within the Middle East, there are no statistics about such accidents but it can be assumed that the situation is not better than in Europe or the US. These accidents happen despite regulations concerning product safety, proper house installation tests and inspection certificates.

Safety of equipment

Daily we use elevators, escalators, cars or other equipment. But do we know anything about their safety?

An inspection of elevators in five hospitals in Saudi Arabia found more than 28 deficiencies existed in one elevator alone. Among them were such important ones like failure of safety break and malfunctioning of the emergency switch, light and bell in the cabin. The maintenance expert, who was proud to have been working for more than 22 years with elevators did not know anything about the function of a safety break and how to test it nor was he able to operate and check the governor of the elevator itself.

In the US as well as in Europe, there are standards and regulations prescribing regular (annual) checks of all safety-related parts and components of an elevator by independent authorised inspectors, which has led to a tremendous reduction of accidents with such equipment.

In Europe, a safety standard for elevators called 'EN 81-Safety Rules for the Construction and Installation of Lifts" has been issued and this has the status of a national law in all member states of the European Community.

Similar regulations or laws exist in Germany for another eight categories of equipment, which have been declared as being hazardous by the German government (for example, pressure vessels, boilers etc.). These measures have led to a decrease in accidents within the German industry and the society at large.

Safety at work

Safety at work is influenced mainly by people and equipment. A prerequisite is experienced employees with an adequate knowledge of safety, safe equipment or tools and appropriate work and safety instructions. It has to be admitted that not all employees of a company are sufficiently trained in safety. This includes the initial and special safety training for implementing their work as well as refresher courses at regular intervals. This aspect is of enormous importance especially within the Middle East because nowhere in the world can we find such a multinational workforce with different culture, traditions, languages, industrial experience and attitudes.

The safety of equipment and tools shall be determined by its design and proper application and handling by their users. This shall be verified by regular inspections and tests carried out either by the company's own well-trained personnel or better by independent inspectors.

Work and safety instructions should be available at the workplace of employees. Several companies, especially major multinationals and national establishments working in the oil or petrochemical industries, have already introduced safety management systems like process safety management (PSM) or have established their own health and safety systems.

The safety certified contractor (SCC) scheme, which has been established in Europe and can be applied for all companies having a contractual relationship with a client, gives an opportunity for firms to enhance and prove they have safety systems in place. This certificate indicates the contractors' abilities to cope with all essential safety, health and environmental requirements.