JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia needs a special body to oversee safety on the country’s major projects to prevent accidents such as the one in Makkah’s Grand Mosque last week, say experts.

They said the government should also ensure that colleges and universities include engineering safety courses as part of their curricula, to hold construction companies accountable for their actions, according to a report in a local publication on Thursday.

They said Makkah’s tragic accident showed that there was a need to introduce legislation that would tighten up safety standards. In addition, the Civil Defense should play a greater role across the country in monitoring the construction projects and ensuring adherence to local and international regulations.

Yahya Koshk, an engineering consultant, said that the cause of most accidents is the lack of specialized safety engineers. “Universities and colleges in the Kingdom do not teach this discipline in their engineering departments although it is a well-known and essential discipline for all projects.

“This is why safety engineers in the Kingdom are very rare. Some companies enroll their engineers in safety courses but this is not enough to ensure that they are qualified enough to monitor safety standards for machinery and equipment on various projects,” he said.

Koshk accused contracting companies in the Kingdom of not appointing safety engineers for their projects. He said every project has to have at least one safety engineer to verify that standards are being followed.

“Failure to do so is a stark violation of international regulations on worker safety.” He suggested that the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE) oversee the safety measures at private companies, and the establishment of a supervisory body to ensure these professionals are also employed on government projects.

Hamad Al-Shaqawi, former chairman of the SCE, said the grave incident in Makkah is an opportunity for the government to revise safety measures in the engineering and construction industry in the Kingdom, particularly with the current growth in these projects.