du’s dedication towards healthy and safe working environments sees the company land highly-coveted workplace wellness award

Dubai, UAE, 15 December 2018:   du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) has been announced as one of the UAE’s leading employers following the telco’s success in winning the Health & Safety Initiative of the Year Award at the 2018 Daman Corporate Health Awards. The accolade reflects du’s relentless commitment towards empowering employees through dedicated health and safety outcomes aimed at delivering a happy, inspired workplace to drive long-term business success.

du came out on top for the award after being initially shortlisted amongst 8 other UAE companies in this catergory, and the significant win follows years of endless health and safety promotion.  du’s success stems from the continuous efforts to ensure the highest standards of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) are maintained throughout its offices and retail stores across the UAE.

Ehab Hassan, Chief Human Resources Officer, EITC, said: “Our unabridged focus has been ensuring we provide a safe and conducive working environment for our staff and visitors for some time now. Their wellbeing is a top management priority and forms a central part of the culture to ensure productivity and the utmost happiness. Winning this award is testament to our efforts, which are aimed at proactively aligning our wellness programs to address specific working conditions and continuously promoting awareness of health and wellbeing.”

The Indoor Air Quality program requires the facilitation of comprehensive measuring of certain chemical, biological and physical parameters in the air that have been known to be associated with acute health conditions. Control measures have been applied to improve ventilation efficiency and extraction of such elements. Furthermore,  du has begun mapping absentee rates in relation to the type of illnesses being reported by employees and aligning specific sick absenteeism rates with age, building locations, gender, seasonality, and climatic conditions. 

du became the first company in the world to receive the prestigious UL Building Indoor Air Quality Certification in 2015 after successfully executing UL’s (Underwriters Laboratories) stringent health and safety parameters across its office and retail locations.

John Emmerson, Events Director MEED, said: “The Health & Safety Initiative of the Year Award recognizes employers who have made unparalleled commitments to ensuring the health and wellbeing of their corporate environs. This year, du has surpassed expectations by demonstrating outstanding performance through its health and wellbeing strategies. This has been shown through unequivocal evidence supporting effective communication of safety messaging, well-embedded safety protocols within the business, and superior innovation of health and safety programs.”

by MEED in 2013, the Daman Corporate Health Awards aim to promote health and wellness in workplaces by recognizing and celebrating the best initiatives currently being implemented by companies in the UAE to improve employee work/life balance and to encourage healthier lifestyles.