The global fire and safety industry will gather for Intersec at Dubai World Trade Centre from January 17-19 2023

Fire and safety professionals from around the world are expected in Dubai in January to explore the strategies and advanced technologies that will future-proof global safety. More than 1,000 exhibitors from 120+ countries will unite at the 24th edition of Intersec, the world’s leading trade fair for safety, security, and fire protection at the Dubai World Trade Centre from January 17-19, 2023.

Advanced technological innovation will be a central focus for the exhibition’s five key segments. Fire and rescue will showcase the latest firefighting technologies, the best international standards, and practices, and is supported by the Dubai Civil Defence. Safety and Health will be divided into environmental, industrial, and public health and safety, whilst Cyber Security will host cyber solutions, experts, from national leaders to public and private sector professionals, from cyber connoisseurs to advisors, hackers to responders, and cyber economists to corporate buyers.

Alex Nicholl, Show Director, Messe Frankfurt Middle East, said: “We anticipate up to 30,000 security, emergency response, safety and cybersecurity professionals attending Intersec 2023, where technological breakthroughs will take centre stage and attract an influential participant profile.

“Industry experts, influencers, decision and policymakers, and distributors are uniting to explore the strategies and technologies that will govern the safety and wellbeing of future generations.”

Fire and rescue seminars

The global fire protection systems market is expected to grow to USD 84.6 billion by 2026, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4%. Due to the rising number of construction projects in the Middle East and North Africa region and increased preference for technologically advanced tools and equipment, the demand for fire prevention and safety implementation systems is forecast to continue rising. With the launch of Giga projects, KSA particularly will register a 5.5% CAGR by 2025, reaching a cumulative value of USD $402 million.

Against this backdrop, the Intersec fire and rescue seminars will gather the most prominent fire and emergency service leaders from across the region to talk about the key challenges, opportunities, standards and policies and technology. These CPD-certified seminars will help attendees learn, network and collaborate with industry peers.

Source products

For fire and rescue, Intersec 2023 is one of the world’s largest gathering of fire and emergency professionals showcasing the latest firefighting technologies, the best international standards and practices, supported by the Dubai Civil Defence. Products presented at Intersec will include: Fire Prevention and protection, firefighting equipment, emergency alarm and warning systems, rescue equipment, evacuation equipment, and safety design in buildings.

Safety and well-being at work and in the wider environment has never been so critical. This is now being reflected with the changing and dynamic supply chains and rapid evolution of solutions in protective clothing, PPE, air quality, ergonomics, occupational hygiene, occupational health, sanitisers, environmental and waste management, workplace safety, cleaning and general sanitisation, safety signage and equipment, staff wellbeing and regulations.

Intersec will bring together the safety professionals keeping us and our environment safe whether at work or at leisure. Attendees to the show will be able to source the very latest products solutions and services from building safety and facility managers to those responsible for cities, malls, and the workplace.

Safety solutions

The safety section divided into three sub sections: environmental health safety, industrial and occupational health and safety, and  public health and safety.

Environmental health and safety (EHS or HSE) is the department in a company or an organisation tasked with ensuring that the work undertaken by the company does not cause undue environmental damage, put the workers’ health and safety at high risk, complies with applicable legislation, and follows best practices. EHS aims to prevent and reduce accidents, emergencies, and health issues at work, along with any environmental damage that could result from work practices.

Products presented at Intersec will include: biological, chemical, and physical hazards; environmental hazards; air emissions and ambient air quality; energy conservation; wastewater and ambient water quality; water conservation; hazardous materials management; waste management; noise; and contaminated land.

Industrial safety refers to the safety management practices that apply to the industrial sector. Those processes aim to protect industrial workers, machinery, facilities, structures, and the environment. Products presented at Intersec will include:  communication and training and monitoring; physical hazards; chemical hazards; biological hazards; radiological hazards BG; personal protective equipment (PPE); special hazard environments.

Community health and safety refers to protecting local communities from hazards caused or exacerbated by project activities (including flooding, landslides, contamination or other natural or human-made hazards), disease, and the accidental collapse or failure of project structural. Products presented at Intersec will include: water quality and availability; structural safety of project infrastructure; life and fire safety (LFS); traffic safety; transport of hazardous materials; disease prevention; and emergency preparedness and response.

Networking opportunities

Intersec provides the perfect platform to reconnect with existing clients, draw new connections and network to drive new business growth and opportunities by connecting with the likes of: installers and integrators, procurement and purchasing professionals, consultants and specifiers, and manufacturers and distributors. Representatives from government, oil and gas, aviation and transportation, construction, maritime and ports, retail, hospitality, travel, healthcare, property, banking, finance, IT, telecommunications, logistics, transportation, education, major events, public spaces, manufacturing, and industry will all be present at the show.

Fire and Rescue personnel in attendance will include: fire engineers, fire chiefs, fire safety officers, project managers, fire risk consultants, emergency response managers, directors of operations, purchasing managers, safety inspectors, construction engineers, HSE managers, chief executive officers, managing directors, specifiers an architects, building service engineers, team leaders, fire services, smoke management division managers, fire testing engineers, firefighting engineers, section heads and system installer.

Key speakers and seminars

The Fire and Rescue conference at Intersec is hosted by Dubai Civil Defence and has been specifically designed to address the challenges and opportunities that are unique to the GCC region, as well as introduce the latest innovative technological advancements.

Alex Nicholl, Show Director says the agenda for the conference focuses on several key themes: standards and policies, new energy sources, innovation and technology, education, and collaborations.

Standards and policies will feature an update on the regional standards and policies and what we can learn from other countries outside the region. New energy sources will see an assessment of the risks associated with new and sustainable energy resources and taking measures to prevent fire breakouts. Innovation and technology deals with changes in the fire environment due to innovative technologies and finding new solutions to existing and emerging challenges before an emergency response is required.

Education will identify the greatest hazards facing the communities and using that information to create education and prevention programs to reduce the effect of those hazards, whilst collaboration will examine how to adopt a collaborative plan for disaster management, working together with other nations.

“As this conference is dedicated to Fire and Rescue, I do think that all of the sessions will be invaluable for attendees from the fire industry,” said Nicholls. “If I had to select a few in particular, some of the key sessions I would advise to look out for include ‘High Rise Firefighting – Practical to tactical’, during which Captain Brent Brooks of Toronto Fire, Canada will examine the unique firefighting challenges posed by tall buildings and review tactical response options to address challenges in operational deployment; as well as ‘100 Years – 100 Cities – The Evaluation of Urban Fire Risks’ by Dr Peter Wagner, Head of Leadership Department, Berlin Fire and Rescue Academy, Member of CTIF, who will discuss the specifics of urban fire risks and distinct types of fire risks in cities.

Nicholls said he was which looking forward to also a panel discussion featuring Vinay Deshpande, Technical Director – Fire and Life Safety, WSP; Steven Reilly, Principal Engineer – Fire and Life Safety Lead MENA, Cundall and Susan Lamont, Director of Fire Safety, Arup who will take part in discussion focused on ‘Fire safety and sustainability – approaching the net zero challenge’.

He added: “It is also worth attendees making the effort to discover the Tech Zone activation, which allows exhibitors at Intersec, including those in the fire and safety sector, to showcase their products and solutions in 20-minute bitesize sessions. The schedule for these presentations will be announced closer to the time, so attendees should keep an eye out to make sure that they don’t miss any exciting announcements.”

Finally, on the over 400 fire sector exhibitors taking part at in the show, Nicholl added: “Intersec really brings the global fire industry to Dubai, exhibitors come from around the world, such as Reliable and Potter from the USA, HD Fire and KV Fire from India, Detnov from Spain, Luke Alexander from Singapore and Coopers Fire and Reaction Fire from the UK. Of course, this is in addition to the many UAE based companies represented, including NAFFCO, Bristol Fire Engineering and Waterfall Pumps. In fact, around 70% of the industry’s global market leaders will be at Intersec 2023 – it really is the place to be to interact with the worldwide fire industry.”

This article was originally published in the January edition of IFSJ. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.