MoHRE Advises Companies To Follow Safety Guidelines Considering Current Weather Conditions

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) in the UAE have advised companies functioning in the country to make sure to follow and implement health and safety measures in the workplace, considering the unstable weather that the UAE is experiencing currently.

A statement released by the MoHRE on Wednesday stated that “The MoHRE calls on businesses and companies in the UAE to implement and follow all the necessary and adequate measures that are required to mitigate the risks that the current weather possesses at the workplace. Moreover, all the needed preventive measures need to be implemented to ensure that no accidents, injuries, or diseases are inflicted on the workers due to the adverse weather conditions.”

The statement also stated the importance of “providing a safe environment for the employees to work and also raising all the needed awareness on the safety requirements during emergency climate conditions.”

Food Deliveries Reduced Due to Rain

There are several categories of employees who are directly affected by adverse weather conditions, such as the one that the United Arab Emirates is experiencing currently.

Food delivery drivers are one prime example. Food delivery agents, either from the food aggregator services or from the restaurant, are always on a race against the clock to ensure that the food order reaches the customer on time.

However, such delivery drivers, as most of them run on two-wheeler motorcycles, are the most susceptible to hazards on road due to bad weather.

Considering the current rain, hailstorm, and wind conditions in the UAE, several delivery app companies and restaurants had stopped taking food orders for delivery. Moreover, they also provided the drivers with an option to stop working if they felt unsafe.

Popular fast-food restaurant brand “KRUSH Brands and Locale”, which operates brands such as Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, etc. in the country, had stopped its delivery services. Ian Ohan, CEO, and Founder of KRUSH Brands and Locale said that there was a policy in place within the company to stop all the delivery facilities offered to the customers without any exception at all, in case it rains.

Ian also stated that “No delivery is worth a life”, that the brand has done 5 million deliveries so far in the country without any fatalities, and that they were keen to maintain the record.

According to Ian, as the brand has restaurants operating all over the country, restaurant managers were given the chance to make the call on whether to offer food delivery or not, based on the current local conditions.

Similarly, the food delivery application “Deliveroo” also stated that the safety of their delivery riders is top-priority for them. In a statement issued by the company, they said that the firm continuously monitors the current weather situation at all times and also asks for on-the-ground situation report from the riders and the company’s operations team.

Riders have the privilege to log off from work in case they feel that their local driving conditions are not safe. Moreover, depending on the surrounding weather conditions, the delivery distance may also be restricted considering rider safety.

A similar statement was also released by another food delivery service provider in the UAE, “Talabat”. They said that depending on the weather status, they are constantly making changes such as reducing the delivery circle or even completely suspending delivery options. Talabat also informs the customers about the reason for the delay in order delivery as they consider rider safety to be the first concern.

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Several parts of the UAE have been experiencing unstable climatic conditions continuously over the last three days. The weather is expected to behave this way until Saturday, after which the weather is expected to be sunny and clear.

The rains, especially the one on Thursday, along with strong winds have flooded several roads across the UAE, including ones in Dubai and the capital city of Abu Dhabi. To ensure that the residents stay away from the risks of flash floods and other hazards, a public warning was issued to stay away from wadis, valleys, and similar areas.

Moreover, facilities such as theme parks were closed due to the weather conditions, and many events scheduled to happen were canceled.

Schools Move To E-learning Temporarily

To ensure the safety of students and faculties during this adverse weather, several private schools across the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah, and other Northern emirates chose to continue classes via online learning for Thursday and Friday. 

The Ministry of Education (MoE) in the UAE had given nod for government schools as well to go ahead and implement online classes and e-learning, a method that was first introduced during the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, to ensure that students didn’t have to miss out on vital classes.

According to the Dubai Police, over 15,000 phone calls were received on its emergency response numbers between Wednesday and Thursday, many of the calls were to report road accidents.