Rescue & Emergency Response

Suspension trauma, the 15-minute rescue window, rescue equipment and drills, and the emergency information UAE authorities expect in a work-at-height permit.

Which rules apply: Abu Dhabi vs Dubai

The ADOSH-SF references on this page (CoP 23.0, CoP 26.0 and CoP 37.0) are Abu Dhabi instruments issued under the ADOSH-SF Occupational Safety and Health System Framework, and they are what an Abu Dhabi inspector will audit rescue & emergency response against.

In Dubai the equivalent legal reference is the Dubai Municipality Code of Construction Safety Practice, with Trakhees EHS requirements in PCFC areas and DDA rules in Dubai Development Authority areas. Other emirates apply their municipal building-permit safety conditions — Sharjah uses OSHJ-CoP-04, RAK free-zone projects use the RAKEZ HS&E Construction Regulations. Federally, MOHRE Ministerial Resolution 32 of 2022 applies everywhere.

The controls below are technically equivalent across emirates, so ADOSH-SF is widely used as the project benchmark — but cite your own emirate's code on permits, method statements and inspection records.

Why a Rescue Plan Is Not Optional

A person suspended in a harness after arresting a fall can develop suspension trauma (orthostatic intolerance) within minutes, and it can be fatal even after the person is recovered. ADOSH-SF CoP 23.0 and the DM Code both require a rescue plan before work starts; calling Civil Defence is not a rescue plan because the response time exceeds the safe suspension window.

Target rescue time
Suspended person recovered within 15 minutes of the fall
critical
Rescue plan attached to permit
Task-specific, naming the rescuers, equipment and route
critical
Trained rescuers on site
Minimum two, present whenever fall arrest is in use
critical
Relief/trauma straps
Fitted to every harness used for fall arrest
critical
Rescue equipment
Rescue kit, descender or MEWP identified and immediately available — not in a store off site
critical
Never self-rescue by cutting
Prohibited; controlled lowering only
critical

Post-Rescue Medical Handling

A rescued casualty must not simply be laid flat and left. Reflow of pooled blood can cause cardiac complications, so the casualty is monitored and handed to medical care with the suspension duration recorded.

Casualty position
Semi-recumbent initially, monitored, moved to flat as directed by the medic
critical
Suspension time recorded
Passed to the medical responder and recorded in the incident report
critical
Medical referral
All harness-suspension casualties referred to hospital even if apparently uninjured
critical
Site clinic / first aider
Alerted at the moment of the fall, not after the recovery
critical

Drills, Reporting and Investigation

Rescue drill frequency
Every 6 months minimum, and whenever the method or crew changes
critical
Drill record
Timed, debriefed and filed with attendance
standard
Notifiable incident
Fatal and serious fall incidents reported to the competent authority (ADOSH-SF / DM / OSHJ) and MOHRE within the stated timeframe
critical
Scene preservation
Equipment quarantined and the scene preserved for investigation
critical
Investigation
Root cause analysis with corrective actions tracked to closure in the CAPA register
critical