The Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) said it has achieved a major construction safety milestone by clocking 50 million hours without a lost-time injury (LTI) at Barakah plant in co-ordination with Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco).
The accomplishment reflects Enec’s commitment to the highest standards of safety and quality and is the result of its continuous workplace safety improvement programmes, remarked Enec CEO Engineer Mohamed Al Hammadi, while speaking at a special ceremony held at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant to celebrate the achievement.
It was also attended by Barakah One Company CEO Nasser Al Nasseri, HoPyeong Lee, executive vice president and chief human resource officer of the Kepco, besides a number of senior management officials from Enec and its subsidiaries.
Working together, Enec and Kepco’s achievement of 50 million safe work hours without a LTI represents a significant industrial safety accomplishment and is the result of its dedication to improving everyday work practices, said the company in a statement.
Both companies have focused on empowering its construction workers, supervisors, managers, and executives to ensure their own safety and the safety of other employees through a range of safety-related practices and tools, it stated.
In addition, the implementation of a worker observation programme provided valuable information on potential workplace hazards and helped identify specific safety areas that could be further enhanced, it added.
On the key achievement, Al Hammadi, said: "This is the result of our mission to continuously improve our safety practices and procedures and is a reflection of our commitment to upholding the highest international standards of safety, quality and security."
"Developing a strong culture of safety is a continuous journey of learning and improvement and our numerous safety programmes are designed to identify potential incidents before they happen and ensure the highest levels of safety performance," he stated.
"This safety milestone also reflects our extensive collaboration with our prime contractor and joint venture partner, Kepco, our sub-contractor Hyundai-Samsung Joint Venture (HSJV) and a further 40 subcontractors that are working together to safely construct the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant," he added.
The Barakah project is progressing steadily, with Unit 2 more than 94 per cent complete, Unit 3 more than 86 per cent complete, and Unit 4 more than 78 per cent complete.
As of November last year, the overall construction completion rate for the Barakah plant was more than 91 per cent, said the Emirati company in its statement.
The four units, once operational, will provide around 25 per cent of the UAE’s electricity needs while preventing the release of 21 million tons of carbon emissions annually, equivalent to removing 3.2 million cars from the nation’s roads, it added.-TradeArabia News Service