Head of QHSES
Al Barakah Holding
Total years of experience :18 years, 11 Months
My role at Al Barakah began as Group Manager - HSE & Sustainability and was promptly fast-tracked to my current position as Head of QHSES, where my responsibilities also include overseeing all aspects pertaining to Hygiene, Food Safety Management Systems, and Public Health. Besides achieving and implementing accredited certifications - ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 9001, and ISO 22000 for the established QHSES Management system, am responsible for leading the strategic vision for the Group and developing and implementing the overall QHSES strategy and goals in alignment with the organization’s objectives and regulatory requirements. I am also responsible for:
• Streamlining compliance and regulatory adherence to local, national, and international QHSES regulations, standards, and best practices across all operations and projects, and overseeing the registration and licensing processes with relevant regulatory authorities.
• Identifying, assessing, and mitigating potential risks and hazards to proactively prevent incidents, accidents, and environmental impact, while implementing effective risk management practices and demonstrating exceptional safety performance with a record currently at 39M safe man-hours (without an LTI) - Mar 2023
• Founding and chairing a committee dedicated to Employee Welfare with the responsibility of communicating their needs to the CEO and Board of Directors, resulting in the improved well-being of 6000+ employees.
• Developing key performance indicators (KPIs) and implementing systems to monitor and measure QHSES performance across various business units and projects and generating regular reports to Executive Leadership highlighting areas of improvement and proposing corrective action.
• Commanding the investigation of incidents, accidents, and near-misses, ensuring thorough root-cause analysis, and the development of effective corrective and preventive actions, whilst implementing lessons learned to continuously improve QHSES practices.
• Delivering wide-ranging training programs on QHSES topics for employees at all levels aimed at promoting awareness and accountability and encouraging a proactive safety culture.
• Spearheading continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to enhance QHSES processes, systems, and practices, and implementing innovative solutions aimed at reducing risks, increasing efficiency, and optimizing resource utilization.
• Architecting comprehensive QHSES policies, protocols, procedures, and guidelines that align with industry standards and promoting a culture of, quality, and environmental stewardship, and ensuring the dissemination and adherence to set policies throughout the organization.
• Managing the QHSES department’s budget by ensuring optimal allocation of resources, cost control, and ROI analysis while maintaining high standards of QHSES performance.
As HSE Manager, my role reported to the Project Director, with functional reporting to the VP-HSE where I was responsible for developing an HSE Management System for the TCA JV (TAV/CCC/Arabtec joint venture) for the midfield terminal building project -MTB (Abu Dhabi’s new airport). Prior to this, I had been serving the organization as Senior HSE Specialist, based out of both our Athens and Abu Dhabi Head Offices, with project assignments spanning the globe. The scope of my responsibilities included:
• Designing & implementing comprehensive HSE policies aligned with industry standards, local regulations, and company guidelines, and ensuring that the policies were effectively communicated and implemented across the project.
• Monitoring compliance with all applicable HSE laws, regulations, and permits, and keeping up to date with changes in regulations while proactively addressing any compliance gaps and conducting internal and external audits to enforce adherence to applicable guidelines.
• Conducting thorough risk assessments and hazard identification processes to identify potential HSE risks, as well as implementing effective control measures and mitigation strategies to minimize and eliminate these risks.
• Delivering emergency response plans, including evacuation procedures, first aid, fire safety, and crisis management protocols, and conducting drills and exercises to test the efficacy of emergency response plans to ensure the readiness of all personnel involved.
• Collaborating with contractors and subcontractors for all parties to adhere to HSE requirements and standards and conducting regular audits and inspections to assess contractor compliance and identify areas for improvement.
• Promoting a strong safety culture throughout the project by fostering a proactive approach to safety, encouraging reporting of unsafe conditions or behaviors, and recognizing and rewarding positive safety performance.
• Establishing KPIs to monitor HSE performance and progress and periodically analyzing data, preparing reports, and presenting findings to project managements and stakeholders.
• Developing and implementing HSE deliverables, plans, procedures, forms, reports, and records for projects.
• Managing CCC’s HSE certification scheme and upholding compliance through proactive monitoring and enforcement measures.
Major in Civil Engineering Minor in Water & Environmental Engineering