DSA are proud to have successfully completed Al Lilac B at Al Zahia in September of this year with outstanding achievements as recognised by our client, Majid Al Futtaim Properties. We have helped provide a safe work environment and completed the project on time without major safety accidents, whilst protecting the welfare of employees and controlling construction costs. Subsequently, MAF, together with Sharjah Asset Management Holding started the handover of its second phase in October.

DSA played a leading role in monitoring site safety to ensure project success. We highlight below some of the major achievements:

• Our commitment to health and safety for employees and excellence performance in the safe execution of the project helped us achieve 13 million manhours without Lost Time Injury (LTI).
• We have received many appreciation awards from the client & local authority for maintaining high standards of health and safety.
• We have maintained good coordination between construction and safety teams. This resulted in the project being completed within the original contractual period / date. This is a rare achievement in large horizontal construction projects.
• We have completed the project on time and without major safety incident.
• During COVID19 peak period, we developed methods to conduct site inspection remotely but still effective. This helped us to continuously support the project during the difficult time.

Our main task as the Lead Consultant, was to lead and work with the Contractor & Client safety personnel to ensure the works are carried-out in a safe environment. Al Zahia Development, Al Lilac being set on a vast horizontal site made us face challenges in maintaining safety personnel presence in all parts of the site. To overcome the challenges, we divided the site into small manageable zones which were then monitored by specific safety engineers.

As part of DSA review of Contractor’s HSE team organisation chart, we strongly vetted the contractor’s safety team CVs prior to accepting them on the project and then invited each candidate for interview. This procedure was taken to ensure Contractor engages competent and personnel on the project. Adequate HSE engineers were also recruited to cope with the vast size of the project site. The project safety team managed to eliminate workplace accidents and promote construction site safety mainly through the following:

• Using proper equipment / tools
• Conduct Training
• Promote Safety Awareness
• Effective Communication
• Carry-out regular site walks and audits (this included Contractor’s workers accommodation facilities)

Despite the availability of multiple resources, project management tools, training materials, and flexible methodologies, many challenges and obstacles were encountered during the project timeline. The most challenging problem was for the HSE personnel to perform their duties and responsibility during COVID19pandemic. This massive challenge was overcome by various means of action plan and facilities provided at site as follows:

• Continuous monitoring of workers was carried-out regularly, checking for health, illness and potential exposure to illness
• Sanitizing and disinfecting site offices were continuously carried out
• Special entry/exit provided with a sanitization tunnel to control the COVID19 spreading
• Social distance and usage of PPE (face mask) continuously provided to workers
• Continuous health monitoring (temperature)