HSE
Motorists cautioned as dust storms expected to hit country after fog
Motorists cautioned as dust storms expected to hit country after fog
By Mahmood Saberi, Senior Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 18, 2008, 14:26
Dubai: Very strong Shammal winds with speed of over 45 kmp/h will hit the country on Wednesday whipping up dust, according to the Dubai Meteorological office.
The winds will bring down temperature by three to four degrees to about 24 degrees Celsius. The unsettled weather will continue till Friday morning when it will start to clear up.
Motorists should be on the alert early on Tuesday morning as there is still a chance of fog. On Monday morning, thick fog shrouded the emirates, bringing visibility down to 100 meters.
Picking up somebody else’s rubbish for environment’s sake
Picking up somebody else’s rubbish for environment’s sake
By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 13, 2008, 17:08
Abu Dhabi: Black rubbish bags were filled in no time last weekend by members of Abu Dhabi 4×4 Club, who took turns in the desert specifically to pick up the mess frequently left out by campers and quad bikers.
Near Al Khatam in Abu Dhabi, silver foil wrappers and plastic bottles pepper the horizon. Already degraded by the sun, plastic bags, feed bags and coal bags, rusty tins and plastic containers break and shatter into fragments when picked up, leaving their trace in the sand.
Khaled Al Muqtab, an Emirati club member marshal and instigator of the environment-focused tryst in the dunes, said he organised the trip after reading a recent Gulf News report on the accidental deaths of camels from eating plastic bags. The plastic forms calcified rocks weighing dozens of kilogrammes, which starves to death four-legged desert wanderers like camels, donkeys or gazelles.
Snapping on blue latex gloves, the volunteer off-roaders look around them at the trash. They do not have to look far, and the group quickly separates to start filling bags.
“I didn’t expect there to be so much trash in such a small area. It’s everywhere,” said Al Muqtab, pausing to listen in to the walkie-talkie in his pocket used by all the off-roaders to communicate. He hears another group has made a find – a different kind of treasure however. He jumps in his car to take the trailer to them and load the abandoned water tanker, probably from a nearby farm.
“This area is so popular for families to come camping and have picnics but there is water bottles and plastic bags everywhere. Municipality seems to be making an effort by at least providing skips and dumpsters but people don’t make the effort to throw their trash there instead,” he said.
The Abu Dhabi 4×4 Club travels into the desert at least twice a week and has been witnessing the increase in waste forming small piles all over the place. “We’ve seen a camel trying to eat plastic today, before our eyes,” he said.
In hours, the cars pulling trailers have made too many trips to count to dump their load of bulging black bags into a municipality skip. A waste management truck even came and emptied the skip once before the group quickly filled it again.
“There is a huge lack of education and awareness. If one person thinks leaving a plastic bag won’t do much damage, then 1,000 people think this is creating a lot of problem. I’m really shocked by what we found today,” he said.
“I really think there needs to be more education in our schools, in a year the problem would not be what it is today.”
Driving over a newly-cleaned up area is a moment of pride for Carolyn, an Australian driver who lived in New Zealand for over a decade. “It’s great to see this spot so clean and to think that we did this.”
“At the end of the day, we have to realise that we have cleaned up a very small area of what is out there, I just hope that we have helped in some way,” said Al Muqtab.
A brief history
The Abu Dhabi 4×4 Club was founded in May 2006. The main purpose of the Club is to have an off-road club based in Abu Dhabi that gathers all the Abu Dhabi based off-roaders in a family-oriented association, meet new people and share the technical and driving knowledge with each other.
Club members are now in talks to organise a monthly desert clean up drive as the idea was very well received by all members and had a very good turnout. For more information on the Abu Dhabi 4×4 club, go to http://www.ad4x4.com
Join us in the Clean up campaign
Join us in the Clean up campaign
Abu Dhabi’s coastline is in dire need of your help. Waste from construction sites, boats and from the land have littered our coastline, not only causing an eye sore but also endangering precious marine life such as dugongs and sea turtles, our health and our fragile environment. Abu Dhabi Government is really very concerned about this issue.
There is still time to show your commitment.
Join us in the Clean up campaign as we move along the Abu Dhabi coast in our endeavour to keep our coast clean
How do we join in this time?
Join us in our Clean-Up Campaign on Saturday February 16th, 2008 at the Public beach at Mirfa in the western region
A tent will be set up at the site. Gloves, trash bags and refreshments will be available. The clean up will start at 8.30Am in the morning. The clean up will go on for about 2 hours.
Interested volunteers from Abu Dhabi will collect at 6.30am at Spinneys parking lot in Khalidiyah. The clean up site is at Mirfa public beach. The plan is for all volunteers to collect and move together from Spinneys Khalidiya in Abu Dhabi. Buses are being arranged for all those who don’t have cars to commute.It would take about one and half an hour to reach Mirfa coast in the western region. After the event, volunteers who traveled by bus will be dropped back at Spinneys supermarket. For those who want to travel by bus, please do contact and reserve your seats latest by 13th of February.
Who all can participate?
Social centers, general public, Private sector, Government organizations, youth etc
How do I/ we participate?
To volunteer in this important campaign, kindly complete the Registration form and submit it online to graghwa@ead.ae or moali@ead.ae or mhaneefa@ead.ae or ralmadfai@ead.ae
Please note spaces are limited so it is based on a first-come first-serve basis. Those companies / organization who can bring in their own buses or cars with their group, do inform us how many of you are coming
Did you know that we collected 6,720 kg of waste from the Mussafah Industrial area for the February 09 clean up campaign!
For more details, please visit: http://www.ead.ae/en/?T=4&ID=3554
Truck drivers risk deportation if found violating safety rules
Truck drivers risk deportation if found violating safety rules
By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 12, 2008, 19:12
Abu Dhabi: Starting Thursday, truck drivers would risk deportation if they flout safety regulations while on the road, senior police officials said.
In order to tackle the issue of materials falling off from trucks on to the roads, threatening the safety of road users, a campaign has been launched by the Abu Dhabi Police. Not only would the trucks be confiscated for up to a month’s time, the errant drivers would face deportation.
Several traffic police patrol vehicles have been deployed across the capital city and its outskirts, including Al Ain and the Western region, to effectively track down drivers who fail to abide by the safety regulations.
Brigadier Nasser Al Nuaimi, Director General of the office of the Minister of Interior, said the entry and exit points of the city would be carefully monitored to nab violators. “Dust and other materials falling off from trucks could cause accidents. Truck drivers must ensure that these are adequately covered and secured.”
“The decision to impose stringent measures on drivers came after authorities spotted inconsiderate truck drivers who put public safety at risk,” he said.
A committee has been formed to coordinate with all the stake holders to curb this phenomenon, he added.
Speaking of the new measure, Colonel Hamad Adil Al Shamsi, the Director of the Department of Traffic and patrol police said that improper handling of materials carried in trucks threatens lives of motorists especially by reducing the visibility.
Police patrols are focussing on major construction sites besides the Al Raha beach area, Mussafah, Zayed Military area and Emirates road.
The police have already begun distributing leaflets in different languages to educate the drivers.
Formula for fun driving
Formula for fun driving
So you love long drives but always dread the nagging neck aches and back pain that invariably comes along with every excursion? Don’t worry.
A lot of your problems can be sorted out by improving your posture. Here are four steps to sit comfortably that will help you sort out the ouch factor.
Excerpted from the BMW Magazine, it offers tips to stay active when you are driving and prevent whiplash or muscle knots and strains.
Given that BMW sought the help of orthopedic experts to design its comfort seat specifically to help its high-end consumers get better muscle support during driving, what better source to take guidance from on how to make sure driving isn’t a pain in the neck. Check out the four-step formula.
Seat height :
Always sit as high as possible to get the best view of the road ahead.
There should be a fist’s width between the driver’s head and the roof lining.
Sit up straight. The backrest should be almost vertical to keep the spine in its natural position and precent strain. This is particularly important over long distances.
Moreover the backrest will also provide support during emergency braking or in an impact.
The rule of thumb is: with arms outstretched, your wrists should rest on the steering wheel. And remember to move closer to the pedals: while pressing down the clutch your knee should be slightly bent.
Raise the headrest to the level of the crown of your head and if possible higher still. There should be a gap of just a few centimetres between the head and headrest.
This will protect the neck vertebrae and is most likely to prevent whiplash from occurring.
Don’t tense up and do try to vary your posture at frequent intervals. Adjust the backrest angle by one or two degrees, move the seat a couple of centimetres forward or back.
The (BMW) comfort seat also helps to extend or shorten the seat bottom while the active seat function raises and lowers the left and right side of the seat squab in turn.
This has a relaxing effect similar to a gentle massage.
Source: The Economic Times
Health and work stress: The link
Health and work stress: The link
By Carole Spiers, Special to Gulf News Published: February 04, 2008, 23:31
In the wake of last week’s biggest-ever health conference in the Gulf, I notice a new report from the UK confirming what many stress consultants have suspected for years, but never been able to prove – that stress is a factor in coronary heart disease (CHD).
As this, in turn, follows last month’s statement by UAE health official Dr. Ali Ahmad Bin Shakar, that 41 per cent of the country’s deaths are caused by heart disease, with a tripling of the problem expected over the next 20 years, the new findings should be essential reading by corporate managements.
Based on a 12-year study of more than 10,000 civil servants, this major research project demonstrates the strongest link yet between work stress and the biological mechanisms underlying CHD.
The most significant finding was that stress directly activates the pathways controlled by the nervous system, the endocrine glands and their hormones. Workers who suffered greater stress at work were liable to have lowered heart-rate variability, poor vagal tone and abnormally high morning levels of the stress-hormone, cortisol.
Significantly, these effects were independent of stress-linked behaviours – unhealthy lifestyles of little or no exercise and poor diet, with their effects on the metabolic system – which accounted for only 32 per cent of the syndrome.
As a professional stress consultant, I would naturally remind corporate businesses that they have plenty of opportunity to train their HR departments in the many specialist areas of stress management (organisational change, time-management, diversity, bullying behaviour etc.), as well as providing their other employees with seminars and presentations that generate a culture of stress awareness.
For those who are not ready to make the necessary investment, however, let me suggest how you may be able to relieve employee stress through a few everyday interventions that cost nothing.
These are the little acts of good manners, appreciation, common decency and consideration that can lubricate workplace life out of all proportion to the effort involved. This is how to generate a spirit of ‘give’, not just ‘get’. It’s done by encouraging people to love their work – or indeed to work with love, as in the words of Khalil Gibran, ‘Work is love made visible’.
The chairman or MD in particular firm should take a little time to ‘walk the talk’, showing an interest in people’s jobs, always remembering names correctly (which carries far more impact than you may think), and generally making every person feel valued.
Certainly, employee health in the UAE faces many side-effects arising out of its breakneck commercial growth. That’s a constructive thought to leave you with, as stress management moves firmly one step higher up the national agenda.
– The writer is a BBC broadcaster and motivational speaker, with 20 years’ experience as CEO of Carole Spiers Group, an international stress consultancy based in London.
Key points: Impact
* Stress has been shown to impact on heart disease.
* Stress management is vital in countries like UAE where heart disease is rising.
* Invest in specialist help or reduce stress through your own interventions.
Ditch plastic to save cash and the environment
Ditch plastic to save cash and the environment
By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: February 02, 2008, 21:30
Abu Dhabi: Prices of plastic shopping bags have increased by 200 per cent forcing retailers to look for ways to minimise their costs, Gulf News has learnt.
Several retail chains in the country said that they are looking for ways to minimise the use of plastic bags.
“Apart from environmental degradation, the price rise of plastic bags make an additional cost which could be shared with the customers if alternative arrangements can be made,” said a spokesperson for one of the largest retail chains in the region.
Some markets are even ready to reduce prices of goods for customers if they start using their own re-usable jute or cloth bags.
“There has been a 200 per cent increase in plastic bag prices in the past one-and-a-half years. The average price has increased from Dh3 per kilo to Dh9 per kilo,” said V. Nandakumar, corporate communication manager of EMKE Group, which runs Lulu hypermarkets.
He said that their 47 outlets in the country consume about 100 tonnes of plastic bags a month. “If we take the case of our about 69 outlets in the Gulf region, the consumption goes up to 150 tonnes a month.”
The millions of dirhams spent by each outlet on the environmentally damaging bags could be shared with customers, he said.
He disclosed the group’s plan to initiate such a step. “We are planning awareness campaigns against plastic bags in cooperation with various official agencies,” said Nandakumar.
Al Maya supermarkets in Dubai said they are also planning an awareness campaign against plastic bags.
Its director, Kamal Vachani, said people are more serious about pollution caused by plastic bags and their use has gone down.
Several awareness campaigns are being carried out against the use of plastic bags.
Dubai Municipality and the International Association for Human Values recently announced the Green Shopper awards, which will reward stores that take steps to reduce use of plastic bags.
Police rescue two window cleaners stuck outside building’s 13th floor
Police rescue two window cleaners stuck outside building’s 13th floor
By Marten Youssef, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: January 31, 2008, 17:20
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi police team undertook an unconventional and daring rescue on Thursday of two men who were stuck outside the 13th floor while washing the building’s windows.
The authorities blamed a power failure on the two men being stuck.
“We had four options. We could try to put electricity back to the building. We could try to reach them with our ladders, through the roof or pull them through the window,” Fabian Dyck, a member of the rescue team said.
Hundreds of people watched the rescue attempts outside the Union Bank building on Electra Street. After three failed attempts to reach the two stranded workers using the ladders of fire brigades, the rescue team decided to pull the men through the nearest window.
Third attempt
“This is the third time we tried to reach them but our ladders are just too short,” Dyck said.
Just eight metres shy of reaching the two stranded men, the rescue team changed their strategy and handed harnesses to the workers as they pulled them through the window of one of the residents.
The two men were rescued and taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Police said there were no physical injuries to the men.
A formula for stress-free driving
A formula for stress-free driving
By Carole Spiers, Special to Gulf News Published: January 29, 2008, 00:22
For Dubai’s motorists, the New Year has not begun well. First, the unexpected visit from President Bush, bringing instant gridlock to a city still not mentally accepting of urban traffic crawl.
Then the equally unaccustomed sight of Shaikh Zayed and Emirates Roads partially flooded during exceptionally heavy rainfall. And then the UAE road-accident figures for 2007, one of the worst in the world – 829 deaths and more than 10,000 injuries – a most unwelcome symptom of increasing traffic jams and driver frustration, in this fast-expanding emirate.
To you, all of this may look like something new and unnatural on your horizon. To me, as a UK-based stress consultant, it is something depressingly familiar and inevitable. So perhaps this is the moment for me to offer you my little rule-of-thumb guide to stress management on the road. It takes the form of a simple acronym – S.A.F.E.
S is for SURE. Be sure of your vehicle, sure of your itinerary, and sure of your own fitness to drive. Stress builds up especially when you’re driving an unfamiliar vehicle, either new or borrowed. So take trouble to check all the features, especially those that you need in an emergency. And when someone else is having to familiarise themselves with new controls, don’t raise the tension by standing over them, expressing impatience.
A is for ACCEPTING. This is an underlying philosophy which takes the heat out of many potentially stressful situations at the wheel. It is to accept that you are not master of the road, and that your journey will always be influenced by conditions you can’t change. You can’t stop it raining. You can’t stop your children grumbling. You can’t speed up that traffic jam as you approach the bridge to cross the creek. So – don’t get excited or agitated – it will not get you there any faster.
F is for FOCUSED. A driver’s first duty is to concentrate on the road. Even under perfect conditions, mistakes can be made. So when the car is full of distractions like music, quiz-games or long-running arguments with the children, driving errors can happen. Equally, the sheer familiarity of the same daily route may cause loss of concentration. To stay focused, try to make a habit of ignoring distractions, and make sure you’re properly nourished and exercised and take breaks on long journeys.
E is for EGO-FREE. Your car reflects your ego, and this lies behind many reckless actions on the road – trying to live up to that macho image, and wanting to hit back at any insults to your dignity or driving skills. Ego can be a major stressor, and you will do better to practise remaining calm and not rising to challenges that can spiral into fatal accidents.
Four little letters that may keep you safe by helping to set up the right kind of atmosphere in your car, as you learn to combat the growing pressures of driving in Dubai.
Good luck!
Key points: Safe drive
Dubai’s traffic congestion and high accident rate is predictable.
Constant pressure on the road leads to harmful stress for drivers.
Be Sure, Accepting, Focused and Ego-free.
– The writer is a BBC broadcaster and motivational speaker, with 20 years’ experience as CEO of Carole Spiers Group, an international stress consultancy based in London.
One killed and another injured in horrific car crash
One killed and another injured in horrific car crash By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Last updated: January 27, 2008, 21:32
Dubai: A man was killed and another injured after a car overturned on Emirates Road on Sunday.
The victim, who was said to be speeding during poor weather conditions, lost control over the car. The vehicle flipped over, swerved and hit a signboard on the right side of the road.
The driver was killed on the spot while a passenger was injured and was taken to Rashid Hospital. The accident took place on Emirates Road near the bridge that leads to Al Ain.
Brigadier Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of Dubai Police’s Traffic Department, called on motorists to be more cautious during bad weather conditions, including rain.
Speeding may cause the vehicle to skid and the driver may lose control.
He said the chances of road accidents increase during rain, storm and fog and motorists should abide by safe driving guidelines during low visibility.
Brigadier Al Zafein said five per cent of all accidents occur during foggy or rainy weather.
He called for extra caution on main roads such as Shaikh Zayed Road, Emirates Ring Road and the Dubai-Al Ain Road.
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