Security and safety are two basic requirements for any human being on the face of the earth, and what characterizes our beloved country, the United Arab Emirates, is the constant feeling of safety. Perhaps setting controls and monitoring compliance with these controls by the competent authorities in the country is what enhances the feeling of safety among individuals, whether they are citizens or Residents and even visitors.

Everyone who set foot on the land of the Emirates agreed that it is the land of undisputed safety and security, and it achieved this great feeling among workers in the most dangerous jobs in the world, especially jobs specialized in factories and construction sites where accidents abound, as these facilities are classified as high risk. 

As our country has completed its fiftieth year, and we have reaped the fruits of security, safety and welfare planted by the founding fathers, and to protect the workers in these facilities, the responsibility falls on us towards future generations to establish a safe and sustainable environment, in light of the rapid industrial and electronic development.

Government laws and legislations related to safety systems are in need of continuous agility and dynamism, to prepare investors to be part of global development, and their delay in keeping pace with global development may be an obstacle in the way of economic development. 

Humanity is on the verge of the fourth industrial revolution, which depends on artificial intelligence, big data, robots and the Internet of things. The machine will become part of our daily life, and the need will become urgent and necessary to develop legislation that preserves human safety, whether in his home, workplace or on the road. 

Therefore, it was necessary for us to establish a pioneering project for prevention and safety in the Emirate of Sharjah, to unify safety requirements and procedures in all facilities, within the framework of the Authority’s commitment to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, in enhancing the security of the population and protecting lives and property. Where the system targets private and government facilities, provides minimum requirements for practicing activities in a safe and healthy manner, and also provides a platform for monitoring hazardous activities to control them. 32 government and private entities in the emirate participate in the project, in cooperation with the Labor Standards Development Authority and the Human Resources Department, to monitor compliance Facilities for the requirements of the system, which leads to reducing occupational accident rates, improving fire prevention mechanisms, establishing best practices in order to achieve a safe society free of dangers and providing the highest levels of safety for individuals.

The Executive Council in the emirate, headed by His Highness Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince, Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the Executive Council, recently issued Resolution No. “15” regarding the Sharjah Occupational Safety and Health System, which aims to enhance safety in the work environment by implementing procedures Preventive to maintain the safety of employees, assets and property.

The system is the first of its kind in the country, which includes government agencies and private establishments, and provides detailed guides that guide employers to the best ways to carry out dangerous activities in order to avoid accidents.

The system was designed based on the best international practices in the field of occupational safety and health, and the system contains an electronic program through which all parties are classified according to the degree of risk of the activities they engage in, and the necessary requirements are determined according to the classification result in the system.

We are working in the Prevention and Safety Authority to establish a solid base of legislation, databases and good practices, to ensure the safety of all workers and residents in the Emirate of Sharjah, which is home to 19% of the population of the United Arab Emirates, which prompted us to strengthen their security and safety procedures, and we developed an alarm system Early 24/7 "Aman", to report fire incidents without the need for human intervention, and the system monitors facilities around the clock.

Thanks to the safety system and the efforts made by the General Directorate of Civil Defense in Sharjah, there has been a noticeable decrease in the number of fires in the residential sector, and we are working on developing a security system service to enable facility owners, real estate companies, and maintenance companies to monitor their facilities through an electronic mobile application. 

Maintaining the validity of the fire and alarm systems is the first step to prevent it. Therefore, we have created a digital window for the stakeholders in the facility, in order to monitor the alarm and fire systems, and remove malfunctions immediately if they occur. We have also strengthened the procedures of a safety system with a guide to safety management in residential facilities, in order to control the Hazards that lead to fire.

From this point of view, we call on all owners of residential facilities to train building guards at the Salama Institute, so that they can deal with emergency measures in the event of a fire in order to mitigate the damage, and we call for not appointing any guard in residential facilities until after receiving the necessary training at the Salameh Institute.

In order to enhance the investment opportunities in the Emirate of Sharjah in the industrial sector, and in support of the efforts that resulted from the emirate’s contribution of 48% of the industrial output at the state level, we developed the Sharjah Occupational Safety and Health System in order to preserve economic gains and the safety of workers and assets, and developed guiding practices for 48 dangerous activities Risks may arise from them, and in the coming period we will launch the electronic program that will enable investors to register their data to know their level of classification in the system and to identify the requirements they must fulfill.

The cooperation of the government sector and the private sector in complying with the requirements of the Sharjah Occupational Safety and Health System will work to achieve the highest safety rate for workers, support the efforts of the United Arab Emirates in this regard, and enhance the gains that the country has achieved at the global level.

From this platform, we call on all employers to abide by the requirements contained in the system to enhance security and safety in the workplace in line with the aspirations of the emirate, which is in line with the authority’s vision of achieving a safe society free from dangers, which contributes to reducing accident rates in the emirate, and provides an environment Attracting investment, making the emirate a leader in the safety of workers at the state level