Abu Dhabi Airports launches annual heat awareness drive
28 Jun 2016
, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Abu Dhabi Airports has begun its ‘Beat the Heat’ campaign advising staff and contractors on how to cope with extreme weather conditions over the summer.
The company is holding lectures in Arabic, English, Urdu and Hindi, and displaying multi lingual posters and dehydration awareness charts, to equip workers with all the information they need to be able to understand and recognize heat related issues and safeguard against them.
The sessions highlight the importance of workers taking more breaks in extreme humidity, drinking water frequently, monitoring their own physical condition and that of their co-workers, and wearing light-colored, loose-fitting and breathable clothing in fabrics such as cotton.
Safety bulletins on mandatory health & safety requirements are also being issued to all participants, along with sun hats, water bottles, neck cooling bandanas, sweat bands and protective arm sleeves.
“We remain deeply committed to the well-being of our employees, many of whom are exposed to the extreme heat of the summer while on duty,” said Mohammed Al Katheeri, Acting Chief Operations Officer at Abu Dhabi Airports. “Heat stress can cause a range of health issues, however heat related illnesses are preventable and through this initiative we want to ensure that our staff members have the knowledge and equipment to be able to deal with the high temperatures that we will see over the coming months.”
The awareness sessions are being delivered by the Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies (GCAS), the training arm of Abu Dhabi Airports, and are being held at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Al Ain International Airport and Al Bateen Executive Airport.
In coordination with the Environment, Health & Safety team at Abu Dhabi Airports, GCAS is also training some staff and contractors to deliver these important heat awareness sessions themselves, so that they can then enforce the message and explain best practices to control heat stress to the teams they are working with.
The ‘Beat the Heat’ campaign was initially launched in May 2012 in line with the Abu Dhabi EHSMS regulatory framework, the ‘Working in Heat Codes of Practice’, and Abu Dhabi Airports’ internal policies and procedures.