Maj.Gen. Expert Rashid Thani ALMatrooshi, Director General of Dubai Civil Defence has honored Hatta fire station personnel  who participated in Drive Safe Campaign, conducted by Department of Civil protection in association with Department of Borders Ports – Hatta Port at General Department of Residency & Foreigners Affairs at UAE and the Sultanate of Oman Land Border exit. Honoring ceremony was attended by  Brig. Salem Khalifa ALMugrab, Assist Director General for Supplies &Services Affairs and Col. Rashid ALBuflasah Director of General Director’s Office.

In his delivered speech Maj.Gen. Expert praised Hatta fire station for its excellent  awareness and preventive activity which helped to reduce the number of fire accidents within area of jurisdiction, and also hailed the efforts of Civil Protection Department in planning & executing campaign various stages.

Regarding the Nature of the Campaign, Director of Civil Protection Department Mrs. Amina Yaqoub said:
Drive Safe campaign conducted at land borders ports comes in line with other integrated activities which aiming at spreading awareness programs, and comprising  training & educating drivers from different public sectors such as (Hatta Public Transport-69 drivers), (RTA 150drivers), (1500 different drivers during Gulf Traffic Week), (Emirates Transportation-19 drivers), (Dubai Police – Transport Security Department- 32 drivers), (Masfoot Transport – 100 drivers), ( Dubai Taxi- 60 drivers) and ( 250 drivers of Emirates Transport). Preparations to conduct the Second stage of Drive Safe campaign is underway  firstly in collaboration with Dubai Customs to cover means of transportation at Sea, and secondly with ENOC to cover Petrol stations and  also to observe safety of Schools buses in both private & public educational institutions.

Trainees received information on sources of risks in cars and how to avoid, necessity to have manual fire extinguisher in the car and how to use , How to handle cars fires, necessity of performing periodical maintenance and using genuine spare parts to avoid fire accidents.

As per the directives of Maj.Gen.Expert Rashid Thani ALMatrooshi, Director General of Dubai Civil Defence to facilitate  accessibility of services delivered to its customers, a new outlet has been opened at Jebal Ali Free Zone area. Established services center assigned to deliver services to all GAFZA and other companies in same proximity. Services delivered include Smart Service 24x7,Contract attestation, Certificates attestation, Trasol and issuance of PRO cards. GAFZA’s new branch which is located at Business center - building 14, is the first DCD’ office opened  outside its HQ building. Working hours from 7:30 – 3:30  , Sunday to Thursday. Customer service free hot line is 800997. DCD urged customers to make sure that required documents are submitted to ensure swift service delivery. Worth mentioning, the total number of e.transactions been performed by Customers service at DCD’s HQ during the period between 1/1 – 30/6 2015 is estimated at 22,974.        

In line with the direct field assessment strategy of fire stations performance, inspection & follow up committee at Dubai Civil Defence GHQ headed by Brig. Ahmed Obaid ALsayegh Assit. Director for Fire & Rescue began its visits to the various fire stations to assess corporate and individual performance of officers, individuals  and civil employees. 

During the inspection missions Brig. ALsayegh cast light on:

full commitment to implementing  assessment methods in accordance with quality standards is a top priority for us. Based on field assessment applications will be  reviewed for further improvement. Special considerations must be given to field and administrative training as efficiency of and discipline of the working forces is deemed essential to ensure plans success and sustainable development of corporate & individual performance  are achieved,  achievements and improvement opportunities is enhanced  
assessment includes performance level and implementation results of each fire station’s annual plan  based on fire & Rescue department predetermined annual plan and on the light of stations performance results 2014.

Assessment program includes fire stations projects and activities in the following fields:  
*Administrative development
* Health and occupational safety commitment  
*Operations results and implementation level of SOPs
*Training programs applications
*Results of performance indicators by strategical standards
*Skills of using Personal Equipments and how to maintain
*Commitment to Equipments maintenance & readiness levels.

Assessment committee includes Col. Abdullah Saif ALShamsi, Director of Services & Provision department, Col Jamal Bin A’adid , Director of Financial Affairs department, Lt.Col. expert  Rashid Hussain ALsumaitti, Director of Fire stations department, Lt.Col.exper Ali Hassan Almutawa, Director of Operations department, Lt.Col. Suleiman Abdullkarim, Director of Technical Affairs, Major AbdulRahman Mohammed, Acting Director of HR department, Captain Abdullah Bin Dismal member of technical specifications committee and Mrs. Afaf Jassim Director of Strategy Department.  

Three fire stations ( ALBarsha/ALQuoz/ALManara)  have been inspected so far. Inspection will continue till 01/10/2015 to include the remaining 13 fire stations.

Director General of Dubai Civil Defence Maj. Gen. Expert Rashid Thani Rashid ALMatrooshi ,today has inaugurated the 6TH Middle East Fire Safe Conference at Dubai Grand Sheraton, in the presence of UAE Civil Defence Commander in Chief Maj.Gen. Jassim Mahammad AlMarzouqi, GCC Civil Defence Representatives, public safety experts and fire companies representatives.

Civil Defence Authorities in the Middle East play a notable role in promoting and implementing fire safety in the region. The Dubai Civil Defence has initiated some remarkable projects like the launch of Smart Homes that enables residents to report any accident at home directly to the Civil Defence operations room. The Civil Defence department is working tirelessly to meet the government’s safety strategy for 2021.

Supported by the Directorate General of Civil Defence - Dubai, the 6th Annual Middle East FireSafe Conference is taking place between the 14 - 16 September 2015 and has been planned in accordance with the vision of the DCD. The 6th edition witnesses the Inaugural Key Note Address by Major General Expert Rashid Thani, AlMatroushi FIFireE General Director of Directorate Civil Defence Dubai.

With the theme "Fundamentals of Fire Safe", day one of the conference today features a keynote from 1st Lieutenant, Taher Al Taher addressing the audience on fire safety harmonisation in UAE. The topic discusses various ideologies like redefining fire safety goals in the region and the need for uniformity in safety regulations and codes for fire protection. Day two will see Terry Johnson, Senior Fire Safety Advisor also from the DCD present a case study on real time incident response at the “Dubai Marina Torch Tower Fire" which dominated the news cycle earlier this year.  

Other than a regional outlook, delegates are hearing from international experts. Tim Cut bill of the London Fire Brigade, is presenting a case study on managing risks in a dynamic capital city like London and Dr. Azmi Adam, President of IFE, UK, Singapore Chapter who presents the Singapore experience on key fire safety regulation schemes that are implemented in Singapore and how such schemes have brought about a high standard of fire safety in the South-East Asian country.

A key element of fire safety within the global framework is about codes and standardisation that are being introduced by global regulatory bodies. One such leading trade body and a key Fire Advocacy leader, NFPA representative Drew Azzara has been a stronghold supporter of the  Firesafe series. Azzara is addressing the attendees about Fire & Life Safety Code Trends in the Middle East and the parameters for existing industrial codes. Another address later today is to highlight the recently updated NFPA 1600 - Establishing Integrated Crisis Management & Business Continuity System by the Head of Crisis Management & Business Continuity at RasGas Company Limited. Other supporters include SFPE, IFE (Singapore Chapter), FCIA and IWMA.

The conference also features two key panel sessions, one of which is a roundtable looking into the role of stakeholders and their commitment to fire safety covering government, regulatory bodies and industry panelists. Other eminent speakers who are addressing the forum represent ENOC, British Standards Institute for Building Construction, Saudi Aramco, Dubai Airports, Qatar Petroleum, ARUP, EMAAR Malls, Roads Transport Authority and Chevron Shipping amongst many other.

This year, the event sees support from many international leading solution and services providers. These include TornaTech, Koffel Associates, Thomas Bell-Wright International Consultants, Central Ventilation Systems (CVS), Knauf, Promat, Volkan, YOKOI MFG, KATMERCILER, The University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and Tenable Fire Engineering Consultancy.   

Civil Defence Authorities in the Middle East play a notable role in promoting and implementing fire safety in the region. The Dubai Civil Defence has initiated some remarkable projects like the launch of Smart Homes that enables residents to report any accident at home directly to the Civil Defence operations room. The Civil Defence department is working tirelessly to meet the governments safety strategy for 2021.