Tag Archives: business
Boost in firefighting services a hot topic
Boost in firefighting services a hot topic Olivia Olarte-Ulherr / 29 May 2013 Detailed investigation and analysis of the circumstances surrounding a fire incident, big or small, are imperative to improving firefighting services and operational procedures, an expert says. “We don’t put enough emphasis into what we should be doing…The amount of time and effort that is spent on the investigation of fires is not enough. We need to be spending time analysing the fire, not just the cause of the fire,” said Peter Holland, an adviser to the UK’s Department for Communities and Local Government. “Most fire investigations done around the world are very much focused on the cause of the fire, it needs to be focusing more on analysing the circumstances around that fire,” he stressed. The new or modern methods of (building) construction pose a huge challenge globally to firefighting services, Holland said. People need to learn that fires sometimes behave differently from what was initially thought. “We need to look at the structure and how that behaves, but we also need to look at the content and how they are behaving. Modern materials are being used inside our homes, our buildings, we need to gather that information more quickly and we need to gather it not just from the tragedies, not just from the big fires, but we need to gather it from smaller fires,” said the fire chief of over 40 years. Speaking on Tuesday at the third annual Fire Safety Technology Forum in the Capital, Holland, who is also the international president of the Institution of Fire Engineers, underscored the importance of “gathering evidence” to help review standards, testing regimes and operational procedures. “It’s about collation of that information and reviewing it so that we improve our test standards, we improve our building regulations, our buildings codes to ensure that they are fit for purpose for the future.” Disaster Victim Identification Casualty tracking is important in the management of a major incident, said Richard Gordon, director of Bournemouth University International Disaster Management in the UK. In his presentation at the forum, Gordon highlighted the benefits of having a dedicated missing person unit or a place the public can call to inquire about their family members suspected to be involved in a big accident. This, he said, would help effectively lead the public away from the accident site. “Dead or not, we need to know who you are…according to Interpol, you and I have the right not to lose our identity because you died away from home,” Gordon pointed out. The physical description of each missing person gathered from relatives often helped easily identify people, especially those involved in an “open event” or when an accident happened in public places with large mass gatherings. “We want to provide that care, so that people don’t lose that identity,” Gordon said. olivia@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
The Apprentice hopefuls head to Dubai
Fans of the popular BBC One reality TV show The Apprentice will be able to see the UAE in all its glory on tonight's (May 28th) episode.The 12 remaining candidates travelled to Dubai to take part in a special task that required them to purchase eight items for a new hotel that is currently being built in the Middle Eastern country.They had to buy the goods – which included a UAE flag in a specific size and a sago palm tree – for as little money as possible.Lord Alan Sugar wanted to see if the contestants had what it takes to conduct business in a different part of the world, but unfortunately some of the entrepreneurs came unstuck when they got their dimensions all wrong when buying the flag.Nick Hewer – Lord Sugar's right-hand man who oversees the candidates as they set about each task – explained what had happened.”Here in the land of the sand dune, the camel, and the Burj Al Arab, size really matters,” he remarked.”They came to buy a flag of a certain size, they got the size wrong, they got one the size of a napkin. Why? Because they weren't paying attention.”The overall winner of the show will have a unique opportunity to go into business with Lord Sugar himself and they must continue to prove themselves over the coming weeks.Producers of the programme said the two teams adopted different tactics, with one opting to scour Dubai's famous traditional souks while the other attempted to sniff out bargains at one of the city's mega malls.If nothing else, the show highlights the fact that Dubai is not only a global shopping hotspot, but a thriving business hub too.The episode is also likely to give viewers an insight into the emirate's stunning multi-million dollar hotels. More and more luxurious resorts are springing up across the city all the time and investors from all over the world are increasingly keen to pump money into Dubai's lucrative hospitality sector. Continue reading
Saudi climber asks women to challenge themselves
Saudi climber asks women to challenge themselves (AFP) / 28 May 2013 Adventurer Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi woman and youngest Arab to conquer Everest, urged women in the the Gulf to “challenge themselves” as she arrived back in the region. Her group of four, including a Qatari royal, a Palestinian and an Iranian, was greeted with cheers and garlands of flowers on arrival from Nepal at Sharjah International Airport on Sunday night. “It was unbelievable,” an emotional 25-year-old Moharrak, covered from head to toe in a black abaya, told AFP. “I’m the first but I really hope I’m not the last,” she said. “I hope it awakens the intention in (Saudi) women to challenge themselves more.” Moharrak reached the peak of Everest on May 19, in a first for Saudi Arabia. She left her home in the Red Sea port of Jeddah on April 3 after a year-and-a-half of rigorous training. By reaching the highest point in the world, she said she has now achieved her ambition of climbing nine mountains, including in Europe, Tanzania, the South Pole and Argentina. Speaking to AFP by telephone from Jeddah, her father Hassan said: “I’m very proud of her… It’s great what she managed to tell people here and everywhere.” Moharrak, who had worked hard to convince her family to allow her to scale the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain, is also the youngest Arab to reach the peak of Everest. Her parents had “faced disagreements from family members and people in Saudi Arabia in general,” she told AFP. “As a Saudi girl, it’s normal that I get negative feedback, but it was minimal and the good outweighed the bad,” she added. Awaiting her arrival at Sharjah airport was the Saudi embassy’s cultural attache in the UAE, Abdul Mohsen al-Harthi. “This is a message from a woman who wants to say ‘I have reserved a place for myself among you men’,” said al-Harthi. “The message is for men in Saudi saying that ‘I, a daughter of this country, have achieved top positions and am capable of doing whatever men can do’,” he said. “I did nothing against my culture and religion,” said Moharrak, a slim and tall brunette. “You don’t have to go against society to achieve amazing things.” Moharrak, like many other Saudi women, hopes that “we do drive one day,” but if this is difficult to bring about, “there are so many other more important things you can be great at.” Her Palestinian co-climber Raed Zidan said he had left behind a political message on Everest. “We spent a long time on the mountain… We met climbers from all over the world,” he told reporters. “I told them about the Palestinian cause, about our prisoners in the jails of the Israeli occupation.” Zidan is only the second Palestinian to summit Everest after Suzanne al-Houby completed the feat in 2011, becoming the first Arab woman to reach the top. With Moharrak and Zidan was Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani — a young member of Qatar’s ruling family and the emirate’s first to make the climb. Their Iranian companion, Masoud Mohammed, suffered from frostbite in his foot which will take months to heal. All four, graduates of the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, climbed Everest to raise funds to help educate Nepalese children. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah said they have succeeded in raising “one million dollars”. Continue reading
