EAD recommends series of corrective measures to building supplies manufacturers
Recommendations come after more than 800 inspections find violations in regulations across UAE capital
Fires in industrial areas have been caused by improper storage methods, the EAD has said.
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The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi has recommended a series of corrective measures for building material manufacturers as they take steps to reduce the risk of fires in industrial areas.
Having identified detected violations such as volatile raw materials being stored directly in the sun; inspectors from the agency have called for their recommendations to be adopted across the board by manufacturers. The comments came after an inspection at a paints production facility in the capital.
“Now the raw material barrels have been covered by flame-retardant tarpaulin, which reduces the fire hazard greatly. These are the kinds of concerns our regular inspections are aimed at rectifying,” said Abeer Sajwani, environmental engineer at the EAD. She was speaking on the sidelines of a follow-up inspection of the same paints production facility in Abu Dhabi’s Mussaffah area on Wednesday.
She told local newspaper Gulf News, that more than 800 inspection visits were conducted in the emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2012 to check the compliance of industrial and developmental activities with environmental standards. These visits included 670 inspections on permitted production facilities and nearly 130 visits to monitor groundwater wells.
Sajwani said that with the space of development and construction expected to increase in 2013, the EAD’s inspections would also be stepped up.
“With the opening of the Khalifa Port and the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, there will be at least a 20 per cent increase in the number of inspections we have to conduct this year to ensure adherence to environment and health standards,” added Khalid Al Hajiri, unit head of compliance and auditing at EAD.
Inspectors conduct regular checks on all facilities and projects that require environmental permits or licenses from the EAD for their operations. The agency currently issues six types of permits, including ones for new facilities, technical modifications and operations.
The agency said that it has inspections between three and four times a year, or more frequently if the activity is considered particularly hazardous. If violations are detected, it arranges for follow up visits to ensure that the issues have been fixed.
