UAE construction HSE compliance checklists

How to use these UAE construction HSE compliance checklists

1. Pick the checklist for the activity or area — scaffolding, excavation, lifting, hot work, welfare and more.
2. Print it or fill it in on a phone, tick each item and note the location and inspector.
3. Raise a corrective action for anything that fails, with an owner and a due date.
4. Keep the completed checklist as your record for client, consultant and authority audits.

Which UAE rules these checklists are built around

• Abu Dhabi: the ADOSH-SF Codes of Practice (formerly OSHAD-SF) — inspectors audit scaffolding, excavation, lifting, work at height and welfare against them.
• Dubai: the Dubai Municipality Code of Construction Safety Practice (2026 edition) and Decree No. 19 of 2025 on safety in construction works, with Trakhees EHS rules in PCFC areas and DDA rules in Dubai Development Authority zones.
• Sharjah and the Northern Emirates: municipal building-permit safety conditions, plus free-zone rules such as RAKEZ HS&E.
• Everywhere: MOHRE labour rules, including the summer midday work break (no outdoor work in the sun 12:30–15:00, 15 June to 15 September, with shade, cooling, drinking water and first aid provided) and worker accommodation standards.

What UAE auditors look for most often

• Scaffold tags that match the last inspection date — a green tag with an out-of-date inspection counts as a failure.
• Excavations with no shoring or battering to the approved method statement, or no daily inspection record.
• Lifting gear without a current third-party certificate and a lift plan signed off for the day.
• Hot work carried out without a live permit, fire watch and extinguisher at the point of work.
• Heat stress controls in summer: shaded rest areas, cool drinking water and a record of the midday break.
• Workers on site whose safety induction or trade card has expired.

Why these checks matter: real UAE cases

• Abu Dhabi, 2025: a worker fell from a 7 m scaffold with no adequate protective equipment or supervision and was paralysed — AED 1.5 million compensation, upheld by the Court of Cassation (Gulf News). A daily scaffold and work-at-height checklist is the record that shows these were in place.
• Sharjah, 2025: a worker fell to his death from a scaffold with no helmet, no safety line and no supervisor on site (Emarat Al Youm). PPE and supervision are the first lines on every checklist here.
• Abu Dhabi: a company was fined AED 35,000 and ordered to pay AED 200,000 after an electrician fell to his death on a site with no safety barriers or safety equipment (Gulf News via BHRRC). Edge protection and barriers are checked in the work-at-height list.