State of Emergency

At work, I have this one hard hat with my name pasted on it.

This one hat is given with a job description which requires me to put it on as a Site Custodian to deliver as a Process Optimiser, Improvement Project Implementor, Staff Planner & Developer, Factory Performance Presenter & Reporter and last but not least the Emergency Manager. It is the last role that gives me bits of a challenge. The reason is, naturally, I have very little sense of urgency. As a fatalist, I believe there are reasons for everything. I can't be bothered to be panicking, shouting, peeing in my pants or shouting to demand attention in the state of emergency. In my introverted appearance, I can be perceived as incapable to handle emergency situations.

We hardly had any emergency situations. But on the night of 22nd October, there were 2 emergency situations within 12 hours. I was there at work and it was my acid test to gauge my emergency management skills.

The first emergency alert was triggered at around 12:30 at night. There was a fight in the factory. It all started with a really petty matter. Too petty that is not worth to be worded here. An Indian contractor after an exchanged of foul language in Hindi with another Nepali contractor, got a real good punch on his left cheekbone, mere milimeters from his eyes. They got separated. We called the ambulance. The medical attendant gave first aid treatment to the victim. The victim was inspected and the swollen part of his face was treated with ice. We called the foreman of these contractors. We answered the inquiries made by Dubai Port Authority (DPA) security representative (they are like the police in the Free Zone). The case was settled without extending it as a police case. We report this incident to our Safety Manager and Operations Manager. Both contractors are not allowed to work in our factory anymore - as adherence to our company's policy. The foreman took both contractors away. The victim was sent for further medical check ups.

I was back at my desk to make the report and to do other things, when the second emergency triggered at 5:00AM. This time an accident happened when a Nepali contractor fell inside a cooling tunnel. To step inside the tunnel he has to wear shoe covers which makes slippery foothold. He was able to get up and get out. He needed assistance to take him to the office for first aid. Again, similar procedures. This time I was quicker. The ambulance came. The victim was set up with a neck support and was placed on a stretcher. I assigned one associate to accompany the victim in the ambulance.

They left to Rashid Hospital. Seeing them leaving, I told myself, we are here to send our premium chocolates out of this factory to make people happy, not to send an injured man out of our gate. There is much to do to make our workplace a safe place.

The DPA guy came again and we gave the details. List of people were informed. Risk assessment was made at the site of accident. I gave instruction to continue production. I came back to my desk to make another report. After 7:00AM, I handed over the shift and went to the hospital to follow up on our man. He was X-rayed thoroughly, there was no fracture. There was a minor muscle ache on his neck and back. He was given medicine and a certificate for light duty for 2 days. To expedite his recovery, he has to wear the neck collar.

He's a fine man now. The photo of him in his neck collar made me think of the long-necked Pa Dong girl in the highland of Chiang Mai........controversially cute.

As I was driven out the hospital, I took the photograph of the fascade of Rashid Hospital Emergency / Trauma Centre. The hospital is said to be the biggest government hospital in Dubai. It is a new building. It started operation one and half year ago. The interior layout and settings are very impressive for a government facility. Looking at it, I was thinking if my wife will ever join me to work here. She has difficulty to let go her privilege as Malaysian Government servant and her pencen scheme. Her reason being healthcare (not health) is wealth. With her as a government servant working in the hospital, her parents, myself and the kids are all covered no matter what the medical issues any of us is having. I argued that we are covered by insurance. She said her parents in their 50s are not. And about the pencen, she didn't say anything. I'm guessing she is counting on it as security if she lives a hundred years like her grandfather.

My Operations Manager sent me an email on the same day, just a few hours later to recognise my team's response on the emergency situations. Her timely appreciation, with words of encouragement has been something I deprived of, in my 11 years of working experience in my home country. I think I would probably still be working in Malaysia if my work there had been recognised like this. Why some (not all) Malaysian managers have not done better in dispensing appreciation sincerely and timely to their supportive subordinates, is a good topic of management study. Yet some of them are talented in picking tiny faults to accentuate their superiority. They are always thinking how they could move up further by stepping on their subordinates. They ignore the need of the people that bring them to where they are.


The words in the captured image above are not so clear. Hereunder, I have cut and paste the lines, not to show off, but to highlight the words of a world-class Operations Manager. She is smart, sharp and swift. I'm grateful to work for her though this Egyptian lady-boss can be demanding sometimes and kelentong-proof, obviously.

"You had a very busy night shift yesterday. Nevertheless, you and the emergency team have done a very good job in handling the incidents and following the right procedures, escalating, informing and taking the right actions in managing the incidents. Well done to you and your team! With the right preventative actions in place I'm confident that some of the highlighted risks can be minimised or eliminated.
Regarding this particular incident, Syam is investigating the issue with the packers / Jams. We suspect the issue might be related to some of them being overworked. "

Hence, an introvert can handle emergency. Though an introvert has no natural capacity to bark like an army sergeant in a battlefield, to mobilise the emergency team, he can control the situation by holding the remote controller and knowing all the buttons on it to make it works. Nevertheless, an introvert needs more strength to iron out the words in his own head like, "Are you sure or not?", "Neccessary, meh?" and other doubting, hesitating self-questionings. You may not understand this complication, if you're a plain extrovert.