I know this isn’t a travel blog but I have to start this post off with this: Doha airport. Wow. I have never been to such a deluxe airport and I doubt there are many on the planet that can compare to it. It is well planned, well stocked, and architecturally impressive.
The airport was my first indication of what I would find as I ventured deeper into Doha: Qatar is running at warp speed to develop Doha and the rest of the country in anticipation of it’s spotlight on the world stage when the Soccer World Cup comes in 2022.
The vast oil reserves in Doha and the favorable business climate give them powerful levers to transform the city into a 21st century showpiece. It’s relatively early in the process but the glass and steel towers and man made landscapes are already prominent. The plans they have for the next 6 years are above and beyond what exists anywhere today.
The wealth in Qatar is reflected in the industrial infrastructure. Much of the production is located in or near the Ras Laffan Industrial City, an industrial hub in the desert without any natural boundaries other than the Persian Gulf. It’s huge. Simply put, you can see their wharf from space. Each production site is laid out in a rectangle and they neighbor each other in a grid pattern. The plants are modern and well funded.
Culturally, it’s worthwhile to note that there are 2.3 million people in Qatar, but only 300,000 Qataris. That means that there is cultural diversity at the plant sites that must be taken into account in emergency response planning. Many of the workers are from Southeast Asia and the Subcontinent, which can be quite different. The safety process must be clear and the staff must practice frequently so that everyone speaks the same language of Safety.
Given the layout of the plant and the importance of frequent drills, I feel good about AllClear’s ability to put the site on a continuous improvement path. Their current method of using paper and pencils to muster thousands of people leaves a lot of room for immediate improvement, but the true goal is to empower them to get better every day.
Next stop: Cologne