The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence - Case Study Example

Environmental safety in Abu Dhabi (Student’s Name) (Student’s Number) (Institution) (Course) (Module Name and Number) (Tutor’s Name) 24th December 2008 Introduction Abu Dhabi being one of the highly developing regions in the UAE generates one of the highest rates of per capita waste annually standing at 730 kilograms while in the US it is 710 kilograms over the same period http://www.uae.gov.ae/Government/environment.htm#ENVIRONMENTAL%20ISSUES. The Emirate is also exposed to harmful chemical pollution emanating from the many surrounding oil wells. The region also faces other conventional environmental challenges common elsewhere. The UAE government has formed a body based in Abu Dhabi called Civil Defence that is charged with role of combating pollution and ensuring environmental safety from pollution and other hazards. In this paper, we recommend a new environmental management system to the organisation that will be useful in realising the set goals of the organisation and a safer sustainable environment. Natural capitalism in Abu Dhabi One of the most praised EMS has to be Natural Capitalism which was introduced by Lovin, B., Lovin H. and Hawken in 1996. (Hawken et al, 1999) Their suggested system relied on four pillars as conserving resources through reuse, efficient use of resources in manufacturing, emphasis on quality than quantity and investing in natural capital. The city of Abu Dhabi is noted to have high incidences of gas fires and thus one of the most relevant areas where pollution directly related to fire outbreaks and also indirectly related through the various attempts to fire that may result into actual environmental pollution. The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence department is one of the most active bodies in the city that is involved in fighting fires and educating the public on manners and ways of avoiding and fighting fire outbreaks The Abu Dhabi Civil Defence as an organization has the ability to adopt this system as stipulated by the requirements of ISO 14001/14004 which basically is to implement, maintain and improve an environmental management system. By adopting natural capitalism the city will for once reduce the high wastage levels prevailing in the city currently. On the other hand there will be emphasis on development of better and more environmentally friendly processes in fighting fires and other relevant tasks that the agency is faced with. By adopting such a policy the Civil Defence agency will benefit by Assurance of a sound corporate responsibility in environmental conservation Compliance with the law on environmental conservation measures Setting a good example to others reducing the agency’s environmental liability Efficiency in operations due to change in processes and general lower costs will lead to increased profits. Improving relationships with regulators on attainment of ISO 14001 certification. Proper recording and documentation of institutional knowledge and information as per the guidelines of ISO 14001 thus improved management. Streamlined operations emanating from the core idea of reducing wastage and efficient allocation and use of resources. Increased awareness and participation in government and non government environmental conservation oriented initiatives. Awareness in environmental conservation has of late been a corporate and government issue. As a country with vast oil reserves, the UAE in general has been noted to rely on oil for running her electric diesels and solar energy. The use of oil apart from vehicles is highly discouraged as alternative and cheaper means of energy are readily available in Abu Dhabi more so solar energy as favoured by the area’s hot climate. For example the Abu Dhabi Emirate plans to reduce the number of vehicles using petrol/gasoline by 20% come the year 2013. This is in an attempt to cut green house gases emissions to a considerable level http://www.ead.ae/en/?T=4&ID=1505. This has been a result of environment assessment surveys that indicate the rapid depletion of the ozone layer globally and spread of desertification in the region partly due to oil exploration related activities (Al-Azab et al 2005). Civil Defence in the UAE has its mission stated as “ensures the protection of people and public and private property, guarantees the normal functioning of communications and transport, and ensuring the continuity of social activities in public premises”. http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:FPYqhSz4U84J:www.icdo.org/pdf/struc/uae-en.pdf+organisation+abu+dhabi+civil+defence&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1 The organization is structured in such a manner to include the following departments among them operations, technical, administration and finance etc all aimed at developing a safe environment. Among numerous functions, the Civil defence is charged with: Identifying hazards and risks and intercepting them accordingly Rescuing, evacuating and assisting victims in case of environmental hazards and accidents Contributing to the restoration of public and private establishments in the stricken regions; Overseeing implementation of fire risk prevention measures in public and private buildings Establishing emergency and rapid intervention units to complement existing ones. Evaluating degree of risk in certain areas and updating data on that. The Civil Defence agency has established itself as an efficient authority educating residents of Abu Dhabi on the necessity to conserve the environment and more so in handling environmental related cases to ensure safety. The agency has for example been teaching the local women the best ways to handle domestic fires which are common due to gas leaks. Thus, the Civil Defence can adopt natural capitalism in its processes and operations to ensure a sustainable environment in the long by setting a good example to other corporations and by carrying on its function as a safety oriented organization. Natural capitalism has been in most cases directed to big corporations leaving out individuals and households in making their contribution towards a safer and more sustainable environment. Unfortunately, households are the most affected by their inaction and the environmentally harmful activities of industries and big corporations. As such, Civil Defence will take up natural capitalism on the most relevant form of reducing wastage. As earlier said, annual wastage levels in Abu Dhabi are among the highest in the world. By emphasizing households to cut on their wastage by reusing items where applicable then, the total wastage by households will make a significant impact on the environment and enhance the safety of individuals. The Civil defence has a responsibility of ensuring efficient use of resources in carrying out its functions as earlier listed. In realization of the fact that harmful gases emitted by industries and fires are hazardous to human and animal health, it should thus be the first in implementing measures to curb such emissions (Al-Azab et al 2005). This will be effectively done through the organization’s processes and operations. As per the teachings of natural capitalism, the idea here should be that Civil Defence should invest in natural capital by using less harmful substances in its processes. For example the agency should consider adopting “green buildings” from oil products residues as a trend that is quickly catching up in the UAE (Al-Azab et al 2005). All directorates premises located in various parts in Abu Dhabi should be made of biodegradable materials to set an example to others and also play an effective role in conserving the environment by achieving one of the goals of natural capitalism as efficient use of resources and making use of recycled matter as is the case with “green buildings”. Operations at Civil Defence should also be aligned to meet the goals of natural capitalism as a preferred environmental management system. Efficient use of resources in reducing wastage is being done in collaboration with other government agencies. For instance the fire department in Abu Dhabi introduced a racing car that is quicker than the conventional fire fighting trucks that get held up in traffic congestion in emergency situations before they reach their destination. In such cases, fuel is wasted in traffic jams while fire rescue by such teams is often delayed leading to massive losses http://www.reflexpublishingme.com/offshorearabia/press/2006/pr_06_0116.html . As such, the Civil Defence has been equipping households and the public about the basic skills in handling fire outbreaks and teaching them on how to avoid further losses. Though this is well intended, natural capitalism stipulates that the method used in teaching the public and carrying out the core function of ensuring safety of the public, Civil Defence should always try to do in an environmentally conscious manner, one of the ways would be to ensure that tool kits distributed for fighting fires are themselves safe in that when such material of such safety equipments is exposed to fire, there are no harmful emissions. As a region more prone to gas and oil related fires, emphasis should be laid on the fact that not all fire extinguishers are suitable for fighting such fires. Experts advise that water is not an efficient extinguisher of oil fires but in fact accelerates the spread of fire. Environmentally friendly means of extinguishing such fires should be developed and implemented. One of the best means would be changing CO2 based fire extinguishers preferred for fighting oil and flammable material based fires with chemical based extinguishers. There are two common types of chemical based extinguishers: sodium/potassium bicarbonate and ammonium sulphate. Sodium/potassium bicarbonates are most environmentally friendly than the latter. Ammonium sulphate is more corrosive and there are high chances that it will undergo hydrolysis to form phosphoric acid. Another safer extinguisher though costly is Hydrofluorocarbon-236fa or HFC-236fa. It has a 100% zero effect on the ozone http://www.ilpi.com/safety/extinguishers.html. Another area that improvement can b made towards achieving natural capitalism is reduction in waste and encouraging recycling and reuse. In conjunction with the municipal authority that is responsible for waste and garbage collection, regulations should be enacted that will facilitate waste recycling. This will best be done by emphasising on a planned waste disposal programme. The programme will involve classifying waste materials from households into different categories for separation to allow their recycling. To enable this, households will be advised to dispose a particular category of waste each day of the week to harmonise collection. For example kitchen waste should be disposed on a particular waste while plastic and PVC’s should be disposed and collected in a particular day of the week. This programme will only be successful with the full cooperation of households by first informing them and educating them on the need and benefits of such a programme. A small charge will be imposed in order to encourage reuse of waste by households such shopping bags, bottles, etc. By categorising waste according to its potential in recycling, then recycling companies will be more willing to buy the waste than for the municipality to plan on the best manner of disposing the waste which may involve separating it according to how decomposable it is. Charges on households will be levied as per the amount of waste produced in terms of weight. The charges will in the long run be responsible for a drop in wastage generation and reduce the current figures of 730 Kgs per person annually to more acceptable level. Within the first two weeks, of introducing this programme, households will be fully aware of the new regulation requiring them to separate their waste and dispose it in different days of the week for collection and the new charges on waste generated. Objectives The new natural capitalism programme is set to achieve the following. Within the first year of operation, annual per capita waste shall have reduced to 700kgs. Reuse of waste by households will within the first one month increase by 10% as a result of education and to avoid charges. Expenditure by the municipal authority on waste disposal will have reduced by 20% in one year. In making adjustments to meet these objectives, Civil Defence should take caution not to overstep its boundaries. Imposing additional charges for waste collection should thus receive approval from the municipal authority and the Abu Dhabi Emirate government and if possible be passed in to law. Civil Defence should also liaise with other regulatory bodies in verification of some of the natural capitalism practices as environmentally friendly. Conclusion Taking up natural capitalism should not be assumed to be an issue only relevant to Abu Dhabi only but to the whole world. Activities by Civil Defence will be in futility if the whole world is not involved in conserving the environment. It is thus important to note that going by the specifications of ISO 14001, the demonstration by Abu Dhabi Civil Defence on the attainment of the set environmental objectives and targets will serve as a motivation factor to the stakeholders all over the world which will lead to more environmental consciousness and a better global environment. Again while natural capitalism is not an end to itself, other complementary environmental programs should be utilized for a better environment. References Al-Azab, M., El-Shorbagy and Al-Ghais (2005) Oil pollution and its environmental impact in the Arabian Gulf region, London: Elsevier Friedman, F. 2003 Practical Guide to Environmental management, New York: Environmental Law Institute Lovin, A., Lovin, L. and Hawken, P. (1999), A road map for natural capitalism New York: Harvard Business review. 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