MBT recently became the first company in the UAE, and one of a few worldwide, to achieve three prestigious awards with the new accreditation of its occupational health and safety management system to OHSAS 18001 by Lloyds.

''The latest addition to the management system series, OHSAS 18001, was formalised in 1999 so that health and safety could be assessed and certified in the same way as the ISO 9000 series and ISO 14001,'' explains a spokesman for MBT. ''In order to meet the requirements of OHSAS 18001, MBT submitted its well-established occupational health and safety system to a rigorous risk assessment audit - further identifying potential health and safety risks, reducing and controlling them and establishing a system to maintain control.''

"Health and safety of our employees, our suppliers, our customers and our neighbours has always been a priority for MBT," says Iven Chadwick, managing director MBT Middle East. "Our company ethos of prevention and the reduction of risks is evident by our enviable health and safety record - it is our intention that all who come into contact with our operation do so in the knowledge that their well-being is our prime concern. Importantly, better control of on-and-off-site risks makes it possible to introduce more sophisticated manufacturing processes, allowing us to add more value in the UAE.''

OHSAS 18001 allows the number and significance of accidents to be measured and their effects reduced over time. Commercially, less accidents translate into less production time lost and reduced time spent investigating problems, thereby releasing time for more productive activities.

According to the company, working with Dubai Municipality, its EPSS Regulations and Technical Guidelines and Dubai Investment Park have been fundamental to MBT achieving the award. MBT had already established extensive health and safety measures prior to moving into its new site at Dubai Investment Park in February this year.

"Our commitment to health and safety doesn't stop at our site boundaries," adds Dr Austin Judge, MBT's technical manager. "We make sure that our products can be transported and used safely by continuous development of safer products and careful labelling indicating safe ways to move and use our products."

With the new standard, MBT Middle East now has a fully integrated management system: ISO 9002 for quality, ISO 14001 for environment and OHSAS 18001 for health and safety. The company sees each standard complementing the other, especially in this instance where analysis of health and safety issues made it focus more strongly on quality issues such as developing more reliable processes and environmentally, even greater control of chemicals on and off site.

MBT has been providing solutions for the problems of the construction industry since the formation of Master Builders almost 100 years ago. Since then, the company has expanded in size and broadened its expertise alongside the construction industry.

MBT Middle East acts as the regional headquarters for the greater Middle Eastern, East African and South Asian markets. The company comprises manufacturing plants for liquid, powder and resin production for epoxy, polyurethane and polysulphide-based systems. A research and development (R & D) centre, training facility and regional customer service department provide production and technical marketing support to contractors, specifiers, distributors and sister companies in India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran.

The SKW-MBT group, to which MBT belongs, is part of the building chemical division of SKW Trostberg AG, which is claimed to be the world's largest supplier of construction chemicals. SKW-MBT currently employs a workforce of 18,000 in 88 operating companies in 55 countries. Group turnover approaches $2 billion.