Safety in Saudi Arabia Scores Low

O ne thing that I have noticed here in Saudi Arabia is the seeming lack of concern for safety and well being of the citizens, children and workers. It has actually been a little shocking to me because I come from the US, where at times it can seem that safety rules and regulations almost go overboard. Saudi Arabia’s safety awareness seems to be at the polar opposite of the US on the scale.

Hardly anybody in this country secures their babies into car seats, except maybe the ex-pat wives, who aren't originally from this country. Honestly I haven't seen one baby in a car seat yet in the whole year that I have been here. Children as well as adults rarely buckle up in cars. It’s not uncommon to see infants sitting on their mothers’ laps in the front seat or for toddlers and older children to be bouncing around the inside of the car having a jolly good time.

As you know, women are not allowed to drive in this country. “For their safety” is the reason I’ve been given. So women have to rely on their husbands, or they might have a driver who is a foreign national, or they must resort to taking taxi cabs, also driven by foreign nationals. In a society so concerned with women being alone with other men where improper behavior might occur, this forbidden driving policy and its solutions, to me, are extremely contradictory. The men drivers here are inconsiderate, constantly honking, rarely courteous, and always on edge because there are no rules and traffic is usually horrendous. They drive the wrong direction on one way streets (and honk at you even though THEY'RE the ones on the wrong side of the street!), park their cars in the middle of the road, and commonly ignore marked lanes, turning two lane streets into excruciatingly tight three or even four lane streets!

And I can't forget to mention many of the younger men drivers in Saudi Arabia who are extremely reckless and endanger themselves, their passengers, and everyone else with their stunts. A big rage here now is something called "drifting" where these crazy drivers get their car going as fast as they possibly can only to swerve the steering wheel, causing the car to start sliding and spinning (imagine an out of control car on an icy road!). Another dangerous but popular practise among the youth here is "sandal racing" which involves the vehicle's passengers holding onto the open doors, skating along on their sandals on the pavement while the vehicle is moving. These guys even have their friends videotape them while performing these stunts and then post them on YouTube!

I like to ask my nieces and nephews about school. A nephew of mine, who is a really smart kid in a public boys middle school here in Jeddah, tells me that he really dislikes (he actually uses the word "hate") his school. Why? Because he attends an older school and he says it is disgustingly filthy, especially in the area where they pray in the school. His stomach turns and his face scrunches up at the thought of kneeling down and putting his hands and his face down on the filthy carpets there. I think one of the reasons for a problem like this existing in some of the schools here is that women (mothers) are not allowed into the boys' schools. My sister-in-law has NEVER set foot inside my nephew's school. If it is as filthy as my nephew says, I'll bet the presence of women in the school would undoubtedly turn this problem around. Every time I ask him about school, it's always the same answer. I'm getting to where I avoid the subject with him now. None of my other nieces and nephews ever complain about this issue, but none of them go to this same school that he goes to either. Fortunately my son's school here welcomes parents as volunteers and so did his school back in Florida. I think this type of policy can make a huge difference in the cleanliness of a school.

As far as laborers go, many workers generally dress in traditional Pakistani style clothing, which consists of lightweight cotton, very loose fitting long pants and a loose fitting long shirt that reaches to the knees or longer. Most workers who are more likely to wear an actual uniform generally work indoors in shops. I’ve seen welders with no safety goggles and heavy equipment operators wearing open toed sandals.

Many outdoor workers do not even wear hats to protect themselves from the sun, although some do wear baseball caps or the large traditional scarf which could easily get caught or tangled up in equipment. You never see hard hats, or gloves, or safety shoes on the laborers, and employers don't provide safety equipment or insurance for the workers. During Ramadan, many hard laborers, like in construction for example, work at night in very poorly lit construction sites.

Women must wear abayas here, which are floor length black cloaks. I find that I have to be extra careful when I am pushing the cart when we are grocery shopping because the hem of my abaya constantly gets caught in the wheels of the shopping cart. This happens so frequently to me while shopping that I try not to push the cart around anymore, if I can help it. The vast majority of women here also wear veils which can obstruct vision and cause them to trip or lose their footing.

A very controversial news item that occurred several years ago within the kingdom involved the religious police preventing teenage girls from escaping a fire at their middle school because they weren’t properly attired in full Islamic dress with their hair covered. About fifteen girls perished in the blaze because their hair wasn’t covered! We have religious police here in Saudi Arabia who are more concerned with a girl’s hair showing than for her life. What about their safety, their lives? Covered hair is more important? I just cannot relate to this type of thinking at all. Ok, getting a little off topic here, but a religious leader here also recently called for the deaths of TV satellite station owners who air immoral programs that might corrupt this society. The religious leaders here are quick to condemn, but they would be out of a job if only people here could actually be trusted to act responsibly themselves without being constantly reminded and goaded into leading such “moral” lives. It seems to me that there are much more pressing problems and issues that they should be concerned with rather than jamming desired, proper, and acceptable moral conduct down the throats of the citizenry here.

 Many products sold here are of poor quality and would be banned for not meeting safety regulations in the states. A prime example of this is electrical extension cords. I was vacuuming today and the extension cord I was using literally melted. Luckily it melted on the tile floor and not on the carpet! This was about the fourth one in one year that has done this. I think it’s great that we have both 110 and 220 electricity, but I for one would be willing to pay more for a well made higher quality product that would last and be safe at the same time. By the way, my vacuum cleaner was plugged in to 110, so plugging it in to the wrong voltage wasn't the problem! The wires inside the melted plastic cord were hot to the touch for a good fifteen minutes after I unplugged the darn thing!

Prescription medications can be purchased over the counter without a doctor’s prescription or supervision. In many ways I like this – it certainly is much cheaper than paying for a doctor’s visit, not to mention paying for insurance, which most people do not have here. However, I do realize the dangers that could arise in people taking medicine on their own or taking multiple medications without consulting a doctor first or being monitored afterward. There is no regulation going on here that I can see.

During the month of Ramadan, in old downtown Jeddah, there is an empty lot where someone sets up a free carnival ride for the children. It is built of mainly old metal pipes and it has sandbags in place anchoring the legs from rising into the air while the ride is operating. The ride’s seats are like small open benches facing each other and of course there are not seat belts, yet it operates like a small Ferris wheel. When I look at it, I think it is an accident waiting to happen. It appears dangerous and unsafe and there is no way I would let my child ride on it, free or not!

 Smoking is another area of safety and concern for me here. There are so many men who smoke. Not only do they smoke the strong tobacco in the hookah water pipes, but most of them also have a very bad cigarette habit as well. Certainly they MUST have heard about the dangerous effects smoking has on their health. Yet they continue to smoke and they just don't seem to care who gets their second hand smoke either. Their children see them smoking and of course, they will grow up to be smokers too. There seems to be a total lack of concern about this. I have no idea about the rate of lung cancer here, but I would not be surprised if it is much higher than countries where smoking is discouraged.

I shudder to imagine the many health code violations that some restaurants and street vendors would be cited for if they were located in the states. Now I’m not saying the US is perfect, because I don’t think it is, but there are safety rules and health regulations in place for good reasons, and here in Saudi Arabia, there just don’t seem to be any at all. Don't get me wrong - many restaurants look so clean that you could eat off the floor, but there are others that we have just walked right out of or have had our meal and said we will never go back there again. Of course, this has happened in the states to us too, but at least there was an agency we could call to report the violations and get a little satisfaction that way.

On a much larger scale, I’ve read some scary articles about the dangers of pollution in the Red Sea. The beautiful coral reefs and bountiful sea life are in danger because of oil industry pollutants. Because the Red Sea is a fairly small body of water, it is especially at risk for contamination, which threatens the wildlife and decreases the ecosystem’s ability to sustain itself. In addition to oil pollution, these problems are also compounded due to unregulated commerce, fishing, and tourism, and out of control and unregulated industrial growth and development.

 I’ve also read articles concerned about the safety of the drinking water in Jeddah. Currently Jeddah is the world’s largest producer of desalinized water. Rapid growth in population has caused major problems because the city has no modern sewage system. Many septic tanks and many water supply tanks are suffering from hazardous leakage and this is just not good. A tainted water supply would most certainly spell disaster in this city on the Red Sea.

There are many other little safety issues which I see here every day, but I guess that's enough to chew on for now. I wish the people here seemed to care about it, and then maybe the government would take some action. But things are status quo here and the people are resistant to change, even if it might make their lives better and safer. So, I’ll just keep my eyes and ears open and hope I stay safe here in Saudi Arabia!