Innovative Solutions Showcased at ZU Environmental Health and Safety Event

Thousands of Zayed University students reviewed latest technological trends and developments, environmental protection norms, and sustainability best applied practices, during the recently held Environmental Health and Safety Fair.

The University’s Campus Physical Development & Services Department inaugurated the event over two separate days within both ZU campuses, with collaborative initiatives from over 27 government and private entities, enforcement agencies and key stakeholders.

Under ‘Stay safe and help others to be safe,’ students were approached with cognitive learning activities and demonstrations, which focused on Emergency preparedness, firefighting and prevention, power and water conservation, waste disposal, green rating systems and innovative advancements in relation to EHS.  

Prof. Reyadh AlMehaideb, Vice President - Zayed University, said, “Zayed University under the directions of its President H.E Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, is committed to managing and maintaining the environmental health and safety of its students and employees."

"We recognized the importance of hosting such initiatives to improve general knowledge and achieve the university’s goals by managing and maintaining the employees and students’ health and safety at the best international standards to enjoy a safe and healthy work and study environment on both campuses in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” AlMehaideb added.

Riham Hwaidi, Director - Campus Physical Development & Services Department, said, “The event is organized annually with an objective of raising awareness, sharing knowledge and instilling the culture of EHS among staff, students and faculty.”

“We seek to provide awareness of updated regulatory EHS best practices and standards, generate and create awareness among ZU community about EHS aspects and its significance in any management system, impart informative knowledge about the technological advancements in the field, and last but not least motivate the society by enterprising then nationwide commitment to EHS practices,” she added.

Female Firefighters

The event kicked off with a live fire-drill performance, which took place early morning around the Dubai Zayed University Campus parking lot, where a number of highly trained female firefighters took on the challenge and eliminated hazardous fire flaring from two vehicles, which were placed for demonstration.

Innovative Environmental Health & Safety Solutions

Enas Subhy Ali, Enviro Care Manager – Tadweer Dubai, presented during her partake at the ZU EHS event a new innovative technology to cut down plastic waste, “We are capable today of compressing plastic wastes utilizing modern technology into Plastic Granules, eliminating henceforth, landfilling of burning measures which tremendously harms our environment.”

“These Plastic Granules are one of the projects that are environmentally friendly, which dish up the purpose of protecting the environment by utilizing one of our natural resources and saving the landfill from contamination. The process depends on cleaning, shredding and pelletize the plastic to be ready as raw materials used for pipes and other plastic tools. To fulfil our obligation of reducing the impact on the environment, a wastewater unit is accompanying the granule line to recycle the water to be reused again and again within the stages of the process.”

Tarik Ennab, from the Emirates Civil Defence Academy, said that “The UAE hasn’t yet set an emergency plan within households, it is crucial to educate families about fire safety and first aid training procedures.”

“Following the devastating incident which took the lives of seven children in Fujairah recently, we urged the necessity to enrol for basic training courses, which are dedicated to parents, nannies, and domestic workers.” “We are launching a new project this coming April, ‘Facility Risk Assessment’ which consists of highly trained emergency detection personnel capable of reporting hazardous hotspots within each entity, facility or household, and redirecting the responsible parties to health and safety measures,” he added.

Yousif Al Beraei, Senior Engineer – Dubai Water and Electricity Authority, showcased two innovative concepts that aids employee safety and cuts down costs, “The system, named ‘Warning Tape’ will be attached around all sorts of underground pipelines of the government entities, when these objects are approached by any sorts of drilling machines it signals an alert to the DEWA monitoring system to take action accordingly.”

The second is the remote-control underground monitoring automobile, “This device, a concept at the current stage, can be inserted into water pipelines, and using its 4k camera and lighting system the team detects any faults or leakages. This device can save 97 percent of the time spent on detection and cuts down on costs,” he said.

The Federal Customs Authority showcased a major innovative device that screens vehicles and vans on cross-borders using infrared technology, “The tool was designed to eliminate harmful rays upon the targeted people and the FCA personnel while providing excellent imagery that aids us in detecting any unauthorized items or humans on board,” Authority spokesmen said.

Abu Dhabi Police showcased the "Patrol of Happiness", which is a police vehicle that roams the streets of the capital, yet hands out positive cards instead of traffic fines.

The General Command of Civil Defense in Abu Dhabi presented the latest methods used to extinguish the fire and conducted training for students and visitors on how to use fire extinguishers.

Emirates Driving Company used a simulator that allows students and visitors to experience the driving experience in different weather conditions, tips and instructions were explained.

The Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHAD) presented the Innovative Initiative to encourage students to participate in an environment friendly competition, while the National Meteorological Center (NMC) presented functionalities of modern weather forecasting devices to monitor rains and cloudseeding techniques.