Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has undertaken a set of precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of its customers and staff. This is in line with Dubai Government’s efforts to provide the highest level of protection against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). DEWA has ensured the continuity of its delivery of electricity and water services, according to the highest standards of availability, reliability, and efficiency.
DEWA’s staff have undergone training programmes to use technological tools and channels in its state-of-the-art digital infrastructure over the last few years. This has enabled all of them to work remotely, hold video meetings using modern technologies, and ensure the highest standards of digital security. This applies for employees whose jobs do not require their presence at DEWA’s power plants.
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DEWA has in place a comprehensive plan to ensure the continuity of field work at its power generation and water desalination plants. It also maintains the operation, maintenance, lab tests, among other vital work, to ensure the continuity of providing electricity and water services for all customers. The plan also includes all the necessary precautionary measures. These include using advanced equipment for early detection and diagnosis of health conditions, implementing home quarantine for employees returning from abroad or who have family members who have returned from abroad, in addition to implementing physical distancing across all facilities. DEWA also applies rotational shifts for jobs that cannot be done remotely, ensuring reducing the number of employees to the minimum that maintains production. Staff working in shifts use different locations from their previous colleagues in the previous shift. DEWA has a special plan for sterilising its facilities regularly, in line with the highest international and health standards, using high-quality approved disinfectants and sterilisers to ensure the health and safety of its employees.
Besides the precautionary measures, DEWA has launched several awareness campaigns about the novel coronavirus using different tools and in different languages to ensure awareness messages reach all its employees.