World Safety Day 2008

I saw it coming about 6 weeks in advance - the client instructed us that we would participate in this cheese bag UN-sponsored harmonic convergence. It was sold as an opportunity to raise world-wide awareness about worker safety to address the 2 million work-related fatalities each year. (Our project is not immune - 2 deaths so far, both Koreans.)

What I saw coming was that the planning was going to languish until the last minute, and then there would be a mad rush to schlep together a program. I also premonitioned that I would draw the short straw to do the slave work as event organizer.

And that is, in fact, what happened.

The math worked out like this: YLNG and Yemgas ponied up a $100K budget for booths, poster competitions, t-shirts, rescue demonstrations, fire drills, interactive educational software, exhibits, awards ceremonies (several of the EOs from Total and from Technip came from Paris to hand out prizes), and - this part actually didn't suck - live music as a capper at the end of the day. We moved about 70% of the 9,000 workers through the training and recreation centers in five waves of 1,500 at a time. There were 6 jillion details including road closures, bottled water, shuttle busses, security, translations of educational material, development of the drill scenarios, hiring and logistics for the live music. We had to build a stage and run a power line to it in order to get around using a noisey generator, and mobilize cranes to redirect the high mast lighting from the soccer fields to the concert area.

Amazingly, it all came off like competitent people were in control. The best part, of course, was the music, which started after the 7 pm prayers and went on until about 11 pm. The dancers were OK; I'm not much on all guy dancers, but the locals got a kick out of it. It was telling to see the grounds the morning after: thousands of pink strings - very recognizable: they are the binders used for packaging Qat. The show came off suprisingly well; the ex-pats enjoyed it (almost) as much as the Yemenis.