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Dubai: More than 80 per cent of warehouses and factories in Dubai are a fire hazard with unsafe storage of material, a report from the Civil Defence said. Many of them do not have any fire alarm or safe exits in case of fires.
Owners have been given deadlines to rectify the situation. "Or we will start fining them and closing them down and referring the violations to the Public Prosecution," warned Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence.
A month-long inspection of warehouses, factories and workers' accommodations was launched in June following an explosion in a warehouse in Al Quoz, which killed two people and gutted a number of warehouses in the industrial area. This was followed by other fires soon after.
Violations
Major General Al Matroushi said most common violations in warehouses included random storage, lack of fire alarm and fire-fighting systems, and change of interior design without permission.
He said most factories lacked fire alarm and fire-fighting systems, storing goods near fire-fighting equipment, and blocking exits and corridors.
Inspection teams visited 1,176 warehouses, factories and workers' accommodations from June 8 to June 30 as part of the 'Safety First Campaign'.
The inspections were carried out using a GPS system to revisit the buildings that have been issued fines.
Major General Al Matroushi said according to the results of the inspections, the teams inspected 1,176 establishments, including factories, warehouses and labour accommodations.
"Around 907 establishments of those inspected were found not abiding by fire safety standards, while only 269 of them were found abiding by the standards. Only three of the violating establishments rectified their situations during the inspection period," Major General Al Matroushi said.
Major General Al Matroushi said the most common violations at workers' accommodations were using cooking gas cylinders inside the accommodation, cramming many people in one room, lack of maintenance of fire alarms and equipment, using service rooms for storage and accommodation, and keeping garbage inside and around the accommodation.
"Many of them did not respond to civil defence procedures ... we will implement legal action starting from fining them until closing down the establishment or referring the violators to the public prosecution," Major General Al Matroushi said.
Crammed and unsafe
The inspection teams came across a workers' accommodation in a residential neighbourhood. The accommodation did not have basic safety requirements and consisted of more than 50 rooms crammed with workers.
Gas cylinders were being used in the rooms in a dangerous way. The owners were given a period to rectify the situation but they did not respond.
Many large warehouses were not connected to direct alarm system. Inspection teams also found that some abandoned buildings were being used as garbage dumper which could become a fire source.
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