Campaign proves successful in raising awareness of summer health issues

United Arab Emirates: The first joint summer ‘Beat the Heat and Be Safe’campaign conducted by Emirates Global Aluminium (“EGA”) at both its smelter operations in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah has resulted in the organisation achieving no lost working days as a result of either heat rash or heat stress during the punishing summer months of 2014.

“This is the eighth and ninth consecutive years respectively that we have achieved and sustained these milestones,”said Abdulla Kalban (EGA: Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer). “It's a particularly remarkable achievement given that Ramadan fell in the peak of summer.”

EGA’s annual campaign highlights the dangers of heat exposure and related summer-time health issues. This year’s programme featured a number of initiatives, including training sessions for more than 3,700 employees, two walkathons that attracted participation by more than 300 employees and employee involvement through idea generation. The latter entailed employees at both EGA Jebel Ali (“DUBAL”) and EGA Al Taweelah (“EMAL”) being invited to submit suggestions that would contribute to reduced heat exposure and the elimination of bad practices during the summer months. Now in its second year, the programme’s suggestion initiative is linked to the well-established EGA Suggestion Scheme. This year, a total of 912 suggestions were submitted, of which 343 were implemented and 254 awarded.

“The sustained success of the ‘Beat the Heat and Be Safe’ campaign this year confirms the increase in awareness among our employees of the health risks in the occupational environment arising from the extremely high temperatures and the behavioural changes required of them,” Kalban adds. “The campaign’s targeted communications, activities and initiatives play a key role in keeping our employees safe and healthy throughout the summer.”