Dr. Amjad Bangash, BACS Consortium Project Director"It’s a lifetime opportunity to be in a project of this size that will transform the life of millions of people"
MAKKAHSALAHUDDIN TUNNEL p.10
An Ultra Complicated Project
Almabani'sHSE p.17
Delivering Excellence in Health & Safety in the Way We Behave & Work
Through the lines of our journal, I would like first of all to extend my best wishes for a Happy Ramadan, may this Holy Month bring health and prosperity to everyone.
I am proud today more than ever to be part of Almabani’s family and share the growth that we are presently witnessing. This growth is the direct outcome of collective efforts steered by the vision and guidance of our Top Management.
On the professional level, the Company has embarked on an ambitious business plan related to growth, restructuring, and implementation of new set of policies and procedures in terms of governance and Enterprise Resource Planning. This plan will ultimately lift our company to the level of top notch local and international competitors, and ensures continuity on the long-term.
In spite of all the difficulties and pitfalls that we may face, we should all raise the same slogan, which is “failure is forbidden under any circumstances”. The biggest challenge before us is to maintain this dynamic and homogenous team spirit that is the core value of our company, and that is raising Almabani’s name and reputation higher and higher.
Finally, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to all the members of Almabani’s family who have contributed to the company's success story through their continuous dedication and loyalty.
- Riyadh -On the sidelines of the Almabani Media Department’s visit to the BACS Headquarters Building, we visited the Assistant Director – Stations Mr. Ali Haidar in his office and conducted a brief comprehensive chat with him, which revealed some basic information, work progress and updates related to the scope of stations, directed by Mr. George Mouawad.At the beginning of the conversation Mr. Haidar explains the division of the 40 stations to be built on line one (Olaya Street) and line two (King Abdullah Road) of the Riyadh Metro.“The 40 stations are divided as following: two iconic stations, 16 deep underground stations managed by Mr. Anthony Matthew, 11 elevated stations managed by Mr. Sean McCready, and 11 at grade and shallow stations, managed by Mr. Tony Abi Nader.”In addition to those stations, Mr. Edgard Kazan will be responsible for the execution of five park and ride facilities, which are car parks with connections to the metro stations that allow commuters and other people headed to Riyadh city centers to leave their vehicles and transfer to the metro for the remainder of the journey, including the associated access roads.
ChallengesMoving to the challenges that are lying ahead, Mr. Haidar points to the traffic management process that is being planned in collaboration with the client, the ArRiyadh Development Authority (ADA), the consultant, Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants, the Riyadh municipality and the Riyadh traffic police.“When you work in main streets and city hubs, it is very critical to proceed in the execution of the project with the minimum impact on the overall state of traffic in Riyadh, taking into consideration the interest of the stakeholders and stores’ owners whom we do our best to provide no damage guarantees in order to build a smooth relationship with them”, Haidar clarifies.In addition, site adaptation is considered a tough challenge as well, where, although ADA has already localized the stations, it is not that easy to start with on-site works, because of the locations of certain stations on road crossings, as well as the entrances and access facilities of the deep underground stations that are going to be located 20 to 30m underground. Another major challenge that is being currently contested under the supervision of Mr. Elie Chrabieh, is the relocating of existing utilities. “Existing utilities are either cancelled or diverted. This is part of what is known as enabling works, through which all site preparation works /are taking place”, says Mr. Haidar. Traffic diversions were designed by AECOM/Transpo, a global provider of professional technical and management support services.In parallel, the preparation of work permits are being undertaken, issuing both temporary work permits (related to site offices and warehouses) and construction work permits.“Temporary work permits for site establishment are being issued as per schedule, and the construction permits will be issued directly after the completion and approval of the designs and drawings”, Haidar adds.Furthermore, the organization charts of both manual and non-manual (foremen, QC, safety, etc.) labor force are finalized and recruitment is ongoing.
A “Project Status Presentation to Executive Management” meeting was held at the BACS Consortium Headquarters Building in Riyadh on June 8th, 2014. Among the attendees were Bill Dudley, CEO of Bechtel, H.E. Mr. Nehmé Tohmé, Chairman of Almabani, and Samer Khoury, President of CCC.
The Riyadh Metro Project leadership team presented an updated work progress information and data, as well as key issues and challenges facing the project.
- Riyadh -
Side of the attendees
From left to right: H.E. Mr. Nehmé Tohmé - Chairman of Almabani, Bill Dudley - CEO of Bechtel and Samer Khoury - President of CCC
Dr. Amjad Bangash, BACS Consortium Project Director, is the guest of the fifth issue of The Almabani Journal. In this thorough interview conducted in the BACS Headquarters in Riyadh, Dr. Bangash reveals his vision for the Riyadh Metro and its impact on the overall scene of Riyadh, assesses the relationship with the client, and goes over all the progress that is currently witnessed in this project, along with many other topics raised in this interview.
John A. El Khoury: At the beginning of this interview I would like to ask you to introduce yourself to The Almabani Journal readers, starting from your academic background, all the way through your professional career…
Amjad Bangash: My name is Amjad Bangash. I’m a Senior Vice President with Bechtel. I’ve been working with Bechtel for 23 years, and academically I did all of my education in Washington State University in The United States. My bachelor is in geological engineering, and I followed that with a Master’s degree and a PhD in civil engineering from Washington State University. After that I joined an engineering company in Chicago, and then after working there for few years I joined Bechtel in 1992.My early years in Bechtel were all in construction projects in different roles, starting with geotechnical roles and general construction management roles. Those were in the United States initially, then I moved for a short-term project in Nigeria and few other places in South America. Then I joined the real rail business for the first time in 1995, when I moved with my family to Hong Kong and that was the beginning of my career in the rail business. I spent around three years there on a big expansion project of the metro system in Hong Kong and when I returned to the United States I had my first project management opportunity and that is when I started my project management career in 2000 by building a complete design for the Portland, Oregon rail system. This is one of the reasons why Portland became a home for me and my family. My next phase was in London, where I worked for about six years in a turnkey project in the London Underground. After that, I took a break from rail projects for four years when I worked in building Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, mainly the industrial zone, and then I moved to Bechtel’s Head Office where I was appointed as the global managing director of Bechtel’s rail business. Among Bechtel’s rail projects is the Riyadh Metro Project, and because of the size of this project and its importance, we decided that I leave the management role and come back to projects’ execution to put this project on track and hopefully as soon as it starts running I can make the case to ask someone to take it over from me, and that’s where we are today!
JK: You are now the BACS Consortium Project Director, involved in one of the most prestigious rail projects that are being currently executed around the globe. How much weight does this position put on your shoulders?
AB: I shouldn’t say it is stressful, but it is stressful! When people ask me about my experience in projects in general –especially rail projects- I say that the start and end are the two hardest pieces. When we reach the middle it’s the easy piece, because it really becomes not a rail project anymore, when we start focusing on construction job, civil job, infrastructure job, as well as building tunnels, stations and facilities… The beginning pieces are hard because setting up a design for a metro system is very critical, and this is where all the challenges are. Moreover, mobilizing a team and setting up an organization with an expertise in the rail system is another challenge. So that’s the phase we’re going through. We’ll go to the next heavy hard phase starting in 2016 to 2018 when we have to complete, start up, test, and commission. So those are the two hard piece and right now our big challenge is the design element after which we can start mobilizing this project and getting it started.
JK: We witnessed an encouraging and hopeful spirit during the groundbreaking ceremony that was celebrated on April 4th. How is the workflow going since then?
AB: We’re okay, in general. I think we are dealing with two challenges: one is dealing with change. We have received changes from the client, and on a fast-track project the less the change the better. So that has been a challenge that forced us to rearrange our plans simply because we couldn’t start from where we wanted to start.
We had to shift some of our utility works and rearrange some of the starting activities and we’re trying now to figure out how to sequence the project so that we can still be able to maintain the momentum and maintain the start. When you look at our next three months plan, you will see that the plan is to start in almost 100 different locations. In the next two months you will start to see lots of activities on sites.
JK: Site inspection phase is done and the real work has started. What are the difficulties that are currently being experienced by BACS staff on site?
AB: We’re in the middle of the city, and we are in a worse shape than other consortia because we’re in the heart of the downtown, and in a very busy area down south, so our team is having a daily challenge of first convincing the traffic police and the municipality that we could take the closures. The second challenge is associated to safety concerns. We’re putting a construction project in the middle of a very busy part of the city, and I’m quite proud of our traffic modeling team because our concept of making Olaya one-way, it was something that was not thought of by our client.
People in ADA were thinking in a more conventional way of taking little closures throughout. We went to them and said: you can do that, but the single danger in doing that, is the driver's mentality and psychology. Drivers like to have something fixed, and then they arrange their life around that. The nature of this project forces us to modify the closures all along the execution period, and there will be a lot of unusual moves. Trying to do that will create a daily hassle. On the other hand, if we just create a one-way street, people will get used to it and commute around it, much easier than adapting with daily changes that may take place on every intersection. There are some small changes, but the majority is taken once.
The client agreed with us and we were surprised! We thought they will be resistant. Originally they couldn’t believe Olaya could be a one-way street, yet now they’re saying “let’s see how it goes because if it’s successful we may think of making it permanently one-way”!
JK: How do you assess the cooperation and colleagueship with Almabani staff?
AB: Very good, and most people know that if I don’t believe in something I don’t say it. If you go back in history, it was the Almabani team that came to London when the decision was made to invite Bechtel to join the Consortium. A lot of things only happen in a JV successfully when managements think the same way and when likeminded people work together. I have found that exactly, in terms of working with Joseph [Daher], Youssef [Tohmé], Pierre [Mourani] and all the management team and then later on meeting Mr. [H.E. Nehmé] Tohmé himself.
I think the alignment at the senior management level has been a key factor in building this chemistry. Moreover, the Almabani team was the first team that we mobilized in big numbers. I think that local presence on the ground was extremely useful for us. When we were trying to convince the client that we are the best team, one of the things we said to them is that we’re the only consortium that has a major local partner with local resources and that means we can start from day one, and we have demonstrated that we can start from day one, and if it wasn’t for the changes, we could've demonstrated even a faster additional work. So that local immediate presence and impact has been another key factor in getting the team working. In other words, the rest of the team depended on Almabani team to actually gets started and use the facilities.
JK: When can we start talking about achievements in the execution process of this project?
AB: We shared with the client, and I think you may want to publish that in your journal so I don’t mind sharing them with you as well, some of the major milestones. Mobilizing the TBM and the start of tunneling is one of those milestone activities, as well as the start of stations’ work. Those are big milestones and I think that if we meet those achievements the rest of the project will come together. Most of the work will start by the last quarter of this year. TBM arrive in January-February 2015, and then probably by April-May, tunnel boring works will be launched.
JK: A big number of engineers coming from top notch universities were hired and recruited to the Riyadh Metro Project, along with an engineering staff of veterans that are leading the team. What exactly makes from this project a cynosure of engineers from all specialties?
AB: First of all let’s make sure that we also combine a big and unique factor here. We hired almost 100 new Saudi graduates, some of them from the American universities and some others from local universities… We have a history of bringing fresh graduates from the American University of Beirut and we are continuing to rely on that on this project, along with some of the other Middle Eastern universities as well. I can say that we have recruited lots of talents at the entry level, and the next level will also feature an international recruitment activity. Our next mission is to turn those resources into becoming the next generation leaders of this organization and both Bechtel and CCC have a developing program for engineers that will allow them to rotate between commercial, contracts and construction engineering, and that’s what we’re doing with the resources today, and we are hoping that they will benefit from this multi-disciplinary exposure.I think the second piece that these engineers will really benefit from is the fact that this is a complete turnkey project so they will –over five years- see how we procure contracts and material, as well as the handing over of a complete railway system. Being on such project from start to end is extremely valuable for engineering and construction professionals. They don’t even realize what they learn from it until they go through it.
JK: How do you describe the relationship between BACS and ADA?
AB: Actually the value Almabani brings in this regard is invaluable. Almabani has worked for ADA for many years, while for CCC and Bechtel it’s a new relationship. Most of our relationship has been nurtured, introduced and built on the relationship between Almabani and ADA. Therefore we’ve been able to leverage that relationship fairly well and so far it’s good, it’s positive.
JK: From your perspective, how do you envisage the public transportation scene of Riyadh by the completion of this project?
AB: There’s no doubt that there’s a need for public transport system in Riyadh. You don’t have to be a traffic planner to see that. In addition to the metro system, the city of Riyadh is also embarking on a bus system which is being done in parallel and is integrated with the metro system, which is very good. I believe the challenge is in changing the habits, so we’re hoping that you will see people take the metro. It is simply a matter of a little bit of time and I think the bus system is extremely important because the metro system does not go to every neighborhood. Therefore you need the bus system to bring people to the stations. I feel that this is an ambitious plan and there’s definitely a commitment from the King himself to implement it. When it’s implemented, I think people will find it convenient and will start taking it. I feel it’ll have a major impact.
JK: Apart from the public transportation scene, what is the economic impact of a rapid transit system on Riyadh’s economic development?
AB: I think there are lots of examples about natural increases in the evaluation of infrastructure and lands that go around metro systems. If you look at what happened in Dubai for example, you’ve seen development going along the metro system. The best example in the world when it comes to the impact of a metro system is in Hong Kong. There’s a joke in Hong Kong that it wasn’t a metro system that was built up. Instead, it was a series of development and then the metro attached them together. When you create a metro system, you get the malls, the shopping centers, the additional apartment buildings, infrastructure and office buildings around it. This is how a metro system contributes in urban development.
JK: If we ask you to deliver short messages to BACS staff, ADA and Riyadh residents, what do you say?
AB: Let’s start with citizens of Riyadh. I would say the following key message: the next five years are going to be painful. We’re going to take roads and closures, in addition to noise, dust and all other aspects that come out from a major construction project that is being executed in the middle of a very busy city of a population of six million people. We’ll do the best we can to make sure that it goes as painless as possible. But at the end, the actual prize is worth the pain and will change the city, creating an economic boom and I think, ultimately, it’s worth that sacrifice. It is our job to make sure we minimize that pain as best as we can.
The message to ADA: I see us as a partner for them. The vision of building this metro is the vision of ADA, the King and the leaders of this country. We were brought in as a vehicle to implement this. When we do projects of this nature and this size, in a turnkey environment, this is not a traditional client-contractor type of relationships anymore. It’s more a partnership relationship and we rely on a huge amount of their support so ultimately the message would be please treat us as partners and we will do what you need yet we rely on your support because we can’t do it on our own.
To the BACS staff I would say this is a unique project. It’s a lifetime opportunity to be in a project of this size that will transform the life of millions of people, so to be part of it, I think that’s a great feeling.
JK: Is there anything that you would like to add at the end of this interview?
AB: No I think you did a great job taking all what you want from me!
After being exposed in the first issue of The Almabani Journal, Makkah-Salahuddin Tunnel Project is again in this issue of the journal, featuring an interview, site visit, and data updates.
TPMR Project Manager Luciano El Khoury: "Timely completion of the project is our target,time is too short, yet our commitment has to be vigorous"
Nassim Arabi: I would like to start the interview by introducing Mr. Luciano El Khoury to The Almabani Journal readers. What can you tell us about your academic and professional background?
Luciano El Khoury: My name is Luciano El Khoury. I graduated from the Lebanese University and joined Almabani in September 2001, where I started in Jubail under the supervision of Mr. Elie Chrabieh. After Jubail I moved to Duba, a small city on the northern Red Sea coast in Tabuk Province, where I have been engaged in a JV project with Archirodon, a Greek company. I spent there around a year and a half. By then, I had some family reasons that forced me to leave Almabani and move to Dubai where I stayed for two years and a half. During that period I was in direct contact with Mr. Chrabieh, until I came back to ERAOA project in 2009.
NA: Makkah-Salahuddin Project has been exposed in the first issue of The Almabani Journal back in March 2014. What can you tell us about the work progress that has been witnessed from March till now?
LK: March witnessed two milestones of the project, which were the opening of the detours in order to allow the team to start excavations. The first detour was opened successfully on the 10th of March. The second detour was due to be opened on the 25th of March, but unfortunately the traffic police, being a stakeholder in this project, did not allow us to start excavation on the second milestone until the 17th of June, after the end of the academic year so that we don’t contribute to the traffic congestion in Riyadh.Almost 73% of the excavation works are completed, concrete works have started as well and almost all the existing utilities have been diverted.
NA: What major challenges are you currently facing on site?
LK: The project has started on March 10th, 2013. It has a two and a half year period of execution. We still have almost a year and two months to complete the job in August 2015, and we have lost almost three months because of the traffic police delay. The challenge in Almabani has always been in delivering the entrusted job on time, regardless of all the counterproductive factors, and this is what built the good reputation of our company in the Saudi general contracting market. Therefore, although our CEO Mr. Daher have always been informing our client, ADA, that it is the traffic police that is delaying us, yet our target is still to complete on time, on August 11th, 2015, whatever this objective will cost us.
In term of on-site operations, we are surrounded by highly-active traffic from the north, south, west and east of the site. We are literally in the middle of a congested area. We are obliged to cooperate with the traffic police and procure permits with each single activity on site.
NA: What are the major achievements that have been completed so far?
LK: I would like to mention two major achievements. The first one is what I earlier mentioned, meaning the diversion of utilities in order for the traffic police to issue permits and that was successfully done. The second major achievement is the fast-track excavation works that are taking place, exceeding the scheduled excavation activity, and satisfying both our management and the client, as well as the traffic police who have fixed cameras and are witnessing the daily progress on site. So we are ahead of the schedule, and that is a major achievement that is taking place significantly and successfully.
NA: How do you describe the relationship between you, being the project manager, and the ArRiyadh Development Authority?
LK: Back in November, when I was assigned as a project manager of this project, ADA management were worried because of the project’s importance and critical aspects, and mainly because of the several delays that were witnessed in an earlier phase. Less than six months later, they passed a message to Mr. Daher, stating that they are very satisfied of the work progress and of the client-contractor relationship that was developed between me and them. We can say that the relationship is on an excellent level of collaboration and coordination on a daily –and sometimes hourly- basis between ADA and us.
NA: On a personal level, what does your appointment as Project Manager, add to your career?
LK: Although it’s a small project by value, yet it is, as Mr. Daher said, the most complicated project currently being executed by Almabani. It is a project that is being done in an area full of operating utilities for STC, Mobily, NWC, storm water, ground water, box culvert, electrical utilities, etc. Therefore we have to construct a tunnel without damaging any of these utilities. Again, most of Riyadh's critical operating utilities pass through this project. In addition to the utilities, we have to take in consideration that we are on the sidelines of an airbase, therefore we’re working in a vital area and this is why we are always stressing on the timely completion of the job. In this regard, I consider this project as a huge u
challenge for me personally. Previously, when I was the construction manager, I was mainly focusing on the civil scope. Now that I was promoted, seven months ago, to be the project manager, I am engaged in a wider scale, adding the electrical and mechanical scopes, QA/QC, procurement, etc.
NA: If we want to talk with you about the top achievement you have ever done with Almabani, what do you say?
LK: I can say that my major experience was the desalination plants project in Duba, because during my presence in this project I was representing Almabani in front of Archirodon, which was managing the site and the project. I had to adapt to their standards and their culture. I can clearly say that my success in Duba and the satisfaction of the Almabani management were the main reasons why Almabani opened its doors for me to come back whenever I felt ready, after I left to Dubai as I earlier mentioned in this interview.
NA: If we ask you to deliver a message to the junior engineers and fresh graduates joining Almabani! What would it be?
LK: The message is clear and simple: junior engineers must work hard, dig in details, act independently and be innovative. In my opinion, there’s nothing called site engineer and office engineer. All engineers must build expertise in site works and quantity surveillance, must read drawings, must understand QA/QC, etc…
NA: Is there anything that you would like to add at the end of this interview?
LK: I would like to thank you for this interview. I hope the next time the media department visits us, we will have much more achievements to talk about and expose.
I think that I am running one of the most complicated Almabani projects, in an era that is witnessing a huge growth within the company, especially after its engagement in the prestigious Riyadh Metro Project as part of the BACS Consortium –a step that I consider it a major push that will move the company to a higher level in the Saudi and GCC market. Back to the Makkah-Salahuddin Tunnel Project, I consider the timely completion of it is our target, and we will achieve our target, relying on the team itself and the support that we’re receiving from the Almabani’s top management.
Excavation work in progress, along the existing operating utilities
Site VisitEscorted by Senior Civil Engineer Jack Faddoul
Eng. Jack Faddoul explains in details the latest updates occurring on site. Escorting the Media Department team on site, Faddoul talks about the major challenges and the way they deal with them, along with progresses that have been witnessed lately.
“The major existing utilities that will clash with the tunnel structure on the excavation works will be relocated and commissioned. This constitutes the first phase of the project. The traffic will be channeled to the road center while the utilities in the service road will be relocated as per the submitted approved design”, says Faddoul.
In details, existing utilities are as following:
• Storm Water Box Culvert: Relocation of the storm water box culvert is already completed. • Sanitary Line: Relocation works for the sanitary line is in progress (99% complete to date). • Potable Water Line: Relocation works for the potable water line is in progress (99% complete to date). • Telecom lines (STC & Mobily): Relocation works for the telecom lines is already completed.
“As soon as the relocation of the existing utilities is completed, rerouting of the traffic flow will be done to allow unrestricted work access to the excavation and construction of the tunnel structure. The traffic rerouting will involve temporary asphalting, barriers and traffic signs. This will comprise the second phase of the project”, adds Faddoul.
The last phase will deal with the furnishing aspects which will involve the electrical works, hardscaping and landscaping, wall cladding, street lighting system, irrigation and drainage system, traffic signal and management system, and testing and commissioning.
From left to right: Ahmad Badran-General Foreman, Jack Faddoul-Senior Civil Engineer, Edmond Kassas-Site Engineer, Amin Badran-Foreman
Almabani is embarking on a new Health, Safety & Environment philosophy that meets the new challenges coming along with the growth witnessed in the company. In this regard, Peter Graham, who recently joined Almabani as Corporate HSE Manager, is more than excited to use all of his experience in order to introduce his vision for HSE.
How do you like to introduce yourself? Starting from the academic background to the professional career…
Peter Graham: My name is Peter Graham. I’ve been doing health, safety and environment for the last 22 years. I started off as a military man, spending 23 years of my life as a soldier. During my last 6 years in the military, I was involved in military projects -refurbishment of old barracks. During that time, I gained qualifications in health and safety. I studied general health and safety – industrial, petrochemicals and construction. I decided to specialize in construction health and safety. Once I finished my career in military service, I then left the army and became a safety advisor for Jarvis Construction, a leading British construction company dealing with railways and construction of schools, hospitals and universities. I worked for them for about two and a half years and during that time I was promoted from advisor to manager to senior manager to regional manager, in charge of the whole of South England.
I was then headhunted to Skanska, a leading European construction and project management company. I was brought in for a special project which was being executed in central London. The difficulty of that project was the fact that we were working in the middle of the city on a major road through the city and constructing next to a major railway station and line, erecting a 12-story building within 6 meters of the main railway line. Issues we had there were as following: because it was a main railway line, if we caused the trai ns to stop, it would cost 20,000 pounds per minute. All the planning and design had to be approved through the National Rail as well as the partial closure of a major road through the capital. Because of the design of the building we had to deal with the counter-balance or moment frames weighing 23 to 27 tonnes, it was not only construction that we had to think about; we had to think of the public. So we had to deal with the Construction, Rail, and Traffic Management, as well as the public. I had to build strong ties with the National Rail, local government, and various enforcement agencies as well as with all the Project Directors. During the whole execution period, we only had 1 health/safety incident. I can say that it was a successful achievement.
My next destination was Bouygues, the second largest construction company in the world at the time, working in a Total Quality Management System (TQMS) –health, safety, environment and quality. This process included travelling across Europe, developing management systems and attending work groups and seminars. I spent 6 years with Bouygues, after which I started my new challenge which is in the Middle East, joining El Seif Engineering Contracting ltd, based in Riyadh. My goal there was to introduce a health and safety management system and to get it certified to an international standard. This was achieved in 2012.
During my 4 years career with El Seif, I’ve been engaged in several prestigious projects such as Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University, King Abdullah Financial District and SADARA petrochemical plant construction project.
After El Seif, I felt the need for change, and here I am today with Almabani. My first impression about Almabani is that it has good ambitions, people want to go forward and be recognized as a leading contractor. My experience will help us achieve this. I have worked with many companies bigger than Almabani in the Middle East such as BAE Systems, Bechtel, and Aramco, so I understand what is Almabani striving for.
- Jeddah -
Almabani’s Corporate HSE: “Delivering Excellence in Health & Safety in the Way We Behave & Work”
What is your HSE vision and philosophy that you would like to introduce in Almabani?
Peter Graham: My goal in Almabani is to produce and set up a strong Health and Safety Department. To set up the department, I’m looking to have strong HSE managers and engineers. This will be the first stage, the next stage is to train the whole company, teaching everyone about accountability and responsibility. The time period for this is about 8-12 months, during which all Almabani personnel from our CEO Mr. Joseph Daher down to the laborer will go through a package of training to understand what are the legal requirements, the company policy, the company procedures and forms, to help us do our task more efficiently. All of these will be developed by the HSE department, and then we will be marketing those mentioned above so that we reach a level where we all work on the same standards. This is what’s required for us to reach our ultimate goal of certification to an international standard.
I have joined a good company that has set definite achievable goals and wants to be recognized as a leading contracting company in the Middle East. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have joined Almabani.
I think that Almabani has a good reputation and all what we have to do now is to enhance what we already have and push forward towards being the leading contracting company in the Kingdom. My long-term objective is to see Almabani ranked 1st in its field of expertise within 5 years.
To achieve that, we need to achieve certification to an international standard that will attract people and larger companies who will want to work with Almabani which, in turn, helps us to expand as we continue delivering excellence in health, safety, environment and quality in the way we behave and work.
Almabani’s Corporate HSE: “Delivering Excellence in Health & Safety in the Way We Behave & Work”
Implementing HSE corporate policies and procedures is an integral part of Almabani's Top Management philosophy
French company Bureau Veritas will provide independent engineering oversight for Riyadh Metro.
The local office of France’s Bureau Veritas has been awarded a contract to provide independent checking services for a consortium working on the Riyadh Metro project.Bureau Veritas will provide independent technical oversight of the design and build work carried out by the Bacs consortium, which is working on the $9.45bn first package of the multibillion-dollar Riyadh metro scheme. The first package covers the construction of lines 1 and 2. The contract is for 60 months.The Bacs consortium is led by the US’ Bechtel, and consists of the local Almabani General Contractors, Germany’s Siemens, and Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC).
Related Link: www.meed.com/sectors/transport/rail/bureau-veritas-wins-riyadh-metro-contract/3192755.article
Riyadh Residents Told to Bear with Metro Project Work
Riyadh Gov. Prince Turki bin Abdullah chaired the 6th Regular Transport Project (metro and buses) meeting in his office at Qasr Al-Hokm on Thursday.During the meeting, it was discussed that work on the project had begun, including conducting soil tests at the main stations, in addition to the preparation of the sites of the giant tunnel boring machines (GBMs).The Riyadh governor is the head of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh (HCDA) and the Supervising Committee of the King Abdulaziz Public Transport Project (metro and buses).He explained that the next two years will witness an intensive amount of work and asked the residents of the capital city “to cooperate in the completion of the world’s biggest such project.”
Related Link: http://www.arabnews.com/news/593416
Contractors Await Market Revival
Construction contract awards for the first half of 2014 are 66 per cent down on the same period in 2013.
Contractors interested in Saudi Arabia will hope the award of the estimated SR2.5bn ($667m) contract to the local El-Seif Engineering Contracting to build phase 2b of the security compounds network programme will kickstart the kingdom’s construction sector in 2014.
While Saudi Arabia remains the region’s largest construction market, contract awards for the first half of 2014 are 66 per cent down on the same period in 2013. The $12.8bn-worth of deals awarded in the first half of 2013 were then swiftly followed by the $22.5bn-worth of contracts let on the ambitious Riyadh Metro project in the third quarter.While projects as large as the Riyadh Metro do not come along that often, the number of contract awards has dropped in 2014 and, while markets such as Dubai are picking up, the kingdom’s construction sector has failed to live up to expectations so far this year.
Related Link: http://www.meed.com/sectors/construction/real-estate/contractors-await-market-revival/3193055.article
DELIVERING EXCELLENCE INHEALTH AND SAFETYIN THE WAY WE BEHAVE AND WORK
Special SupplementIssue No. 5 . July 12, 2014
INTRODUCTION
Our employees are our most valuable resource and no phase of business is of greater importance than their personal safety. We believe that all accidents can be prevented and that safety is an integral part of everyone’s job. Each level of management is responsible for demonstrating safety leadership, providing a safe work environment and promoting safety as a value.In this regard, we state the following:
• All accidents are preventable.• Management and all employees have a primary responsibility for the safety and well-being of employees, contractors and visitors.• Workplace risks can be minimized and exposures can be safeguarded.• Effective communication is essential to achieving an accident-free workplace.• Training employees to properly perform their jobs is essential.• Understanding the safety policy is a must for all employees, contractors and visitors.• Reporting and sharing near miss incidents is a key to improving safety.• All employees are empowered to stop any unsafe activity.• Recognizing safe behavior fosters better understanding of our policies, philosophy and practices.• Preventing accidents is just good business.• Promote workforce involvement, feedback and integrity.• SAFETY IS OUR NUMBER 1 PRIORITY.
Special SupplementIssue No. 5 . July 12, 2014
Almabani HSE Philosophy
OVERVIEW
Prime importance is given to health and safety by Almabani to all employees. To ensure this objective we engage well-experienced safety staff at site. The Top Management is very strict on observing the safety principles at site and our commitment towards the Safety, Health and Environment is reflected in the HSE Policy. Our well experienced and trained safety team assures that risks are analyzed well before any project get started and all the approved safety procedures, as per the risk analysis, are implemented and maintained at site throughout the project execution.Safety audits are conducted periodically and the Top Management reviews the audit findings and gives necessary guidance to further improve the field and general safety.Personnel and Administration department take special care to ensure that hygienic condition prevail in the labor camps and other related areas at all times.
Special SupplementIssue No. 5 . July 12, 2014
Almabani HSE Philosophy
WHERE WE ARE NOWPerceptions: Health and Safety across the company can be improved.We as the senior management must lead these improvements.
Behavioral: All personnel within the company are aware of health and safety but do not fully understand the process and procedures or the consequences of not following these processes and procedures.
WHERE WE WANT TO BE IN THE SHORT TERMRaising awareness is key to successful health and safety management within the company.Setting up of a strong health and safety department at the corporate level is essential. Recruiting the right personnel with good knowledge and experience will form the foundation stone of building the company’s reputation internally and externally. Training will be the priority of the department to the company at all levels.
Special SupplementIssue No. 5 . July 12, 2014
Almabani HSE Philosophy
THE CORE HSE TEAM
CORPORATE HSEMANAGER
HSE COORDINATORENGINEER H.O
REGIONAL HSE MANAGERWEST / NORTH
REGIONAL HSE MANAGERCENTRAL / SOUTH
REGIONAL HSE MANAGEREAST
HSE TRAININGMANAGER
TECHNICALADMINISTRATOR H.O
EXECUTIVE VICEPRESIDENT
(OPERATIONS)
CEO
Special SupplementIssue No. 5 . July 12, 2014
Almabani HSE Philosophy
THE MEDIUM TERMEnhance the Company Health and Safety Policy by:
• Developing the company health and safety manual.• Developing the company health and safety procedures.• Developing all the standard forms with the Corporate Document Manager.• Training all personnel on all of the above at all levels.• Carrying out an audit on training across the whole company on it’s effectiveness.
THE LONG TERM
Our Long Term Goal is to:
• Conduct an HSE Management review (Senior Management level).• Start the process of certification to BS OHSAS 18001-2007.• Deliver excellence in health and safety in the way we behave and work.• Achieve the main goal which is to attain certification to BS OHSAS 18001-2007.
