DEWA wins Best Business Award 2016 in the field of Health and Safety

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) won the Best Business Award 2016, which is one of the most prestigious business awards in the UK in the field of health and safety. This reflects DEWA’s international position in leadership and excellence, and its efforts, commitment and achievements in the field of health and safety over the last 15 years. HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, expressed his happiness on DEWA winning this prestigious award. Al Tayer noted that the directives and vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, have contributed to DEWA’s accomplishments, and achieving ambitious initiatives and development projects.

“DEWA operates to the highest international standards of occupational health and safety, within the strategy of DEWA’s integrated management system to deliver electricity and water services as efficiently, reliably and readily-available as possible. This will encourage a culture of occupational health and safety and environmental sustainability, to achieve the happiness of our clients, partners and employees, and to protect our environment and natural resources.

DEWA’s integrated administrative systems policy includes the adoption of best practices and the highest standards of quality, health and safety, environmental systems and accountability to all related regulations. This includes spreading awareness and preventing injuries, management of natural resources in a way that ensures its sustainability; management of waste disposal to reduce and recycle it; meeting the needs of quality, health, safety and environment to design, establish, and operate maintenance works and the planning performance of quality, health, safety and environment performance systems—facilitating its control, supervision and measurement,” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer noted that DEWA organises the Annual Best Practices Conference on Quality, Health, Safety, and Environment. The event gathers leaders and experts on safety and occupational health, to discuss best practices in quality, health safety and environment at work, and provides a world-class valuable experience for the participants and stakeholders. Through this conference, DEWA aims to provide a strategic platform to exchange skills and experiences, in addition to international policies and processes required to face increasing challenges, to find innovative proactive solutions in this field. DEWA organises its Health and Safety Week, internally and externally at all its premises, to enhance health and safety standards and provide an interactive platform to discuss the latest updates related to health and safety. This supports DEWA’s integrated administrative systems policy and its commitment to provide a healthy and safe working environment. Al Tayer also stated that DEWA believes that health and safety standards are not limited to its employees, which is why it is committed to raising these standards among the community at large.

“DEWA adopts comprehensive and integrated systems to manage occupational health and safety. It also supports international partnerships to improve occupational health and safety standards at DEWA. As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, DEWA organises a number of activities to target employees, contractors, customers, and stakeholders. This improves the work environment, and raises the level of awareness among community members, about adopting health and safety standards as part of daily practice. DEWA supervises the contractors’ commitment levels towards the integrated management systems,” said Dr. Yousef Al Akraf, Executive Vice President of Business Support and Human Resources at DEWA.

Last January, DEWA was certified by the British Safety Council as an occupational health and safety training centre. DEWA is the first government department to be registered with the Council. DEWA employees and strategic partners who undergo the training are awarded with credit certificates in occupational health and safety from the British Safety Council. In 2016, DEWA was awarded the Sword of Honour for the ninth year in a row and the Globe of Honour for the fourth year in a row, by the British Safety Council.