Aqaba — Public safety measures in the Aqaba Special Economic Zone are moving toward a more comprehensive and integrated framework following the Cabinet’s approval of the rationale for the proposed Public Safety Regulation for 2026.
The proposed regulation lays the foundation for developing prevention and preparedness requirements across facilities and public amenities, while linking the protection of lives, property and the environment with the continuity of economic, tourism and service activities.
According to the Cabinet decision, the proposed regulation extends beyond economic facilities and ports to include public facilities, complexes, buildings, parks and schools. It also covers recreational and event venues, beaches, residential communities and tourist camps.
The move expands the safety umbrella to places where citizens work or live and where visitors spend time, in parallel with growing economic and tourism activity in the region.
The decision outlines the regulation’s objectives and key requirements, which are based on prevention, risk analysis, updated emergency plans and institutional coordination. It also calls for benefiting from technological developments and lessons learned from previous incidents to improve safety procedures and strengthen Aqaba’s position as a safe and attractive destination for investment and business.
Dr. Nidal Al-Aouran, Commissioner for Environment and Public Safety at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, said the proposed regulation reflects a shift toward treating public safety as an integrated system that begins with awareness and identifying sources of risk and does not end with responding to an incident.
It extends to addressing the consequences, rehabilitation and documenting lessons learned, he said, in a way that strengthens the protection of people and the environment and supports the sustainability of activities in the region.
Al-Aouran noted that expanding the regulation to cover economic, tourism, social and public facilities is consistent with Aqaba’s diverse nature and uses. Safety, he said, does not stop at the boundaries of a facility or workplace but also extends to beaches, schools, residential complexes and tourism events, requiring clearly defined responsibilities and continuous cooperation among institutions, operators and the community.
The Cabinet’s announcement indicates that the proposed regulation is designed to complement and support the systems and instructions of the relevant authorities, Civil Defense and Public Security Directorate. This would enhance coordination and information exchange while providing a framework for coordinating efforts and responsibilities and evaluating safety procedures.
It would also provide greater regulatory clarity to help facilities plan, comply with requirements and maintain business continuity.
Importance of a Unified Framework
According to development management specialist Dr. Habis Al-Abbadi, the importance of a unified framework lies in bringing efforts together around clear requirements and complementary responsibilities without eliminating existing jurisdictions.
Information sharing can help create a clearer picture of risks and reduce gaps that may arise when each authority possesses only part of the available information without an effective mechanism to connect it to prevention and response decisions.
The proposed regulation covers four integrated stages: awareness, preventive measures, response and rehabilitation, and documentation of lessons learned. This links preparations made before an incident with managing its consequences and reviewing its causes, making the experience gained from an incident a means of improving procedures rather than simply removing immediate damage and resuming operations without assessing shortcomings.
Risk management expert Moatasem Zureikat said the connection between the four stages is important because awareness alone cannot prevent incidents unless it is accompanied by preventive measures. Likewise, addressing the consequences of an incident is insufficient unless its causes are reviewed and lessons learned are documented.
The objective, he said, is for facilities to move from identifying risks to controlling them, then verifying the effectiveness of safety measures and updating them when necessary.
Zureikat added that awareness programs should be tailored to the nature of the activity and the people involved. Workers need instructions related to their specific duties, visitors need clear and easy-to-understand guidance, and those responsible for operations need to understand how their decisions affect safety.
Awareness is therefore more effective when it clearly identifies the required behavior rather than relying solely on general messages.
According to accident investigation specialist Muslim Maarouf, documenting lessons learned helps prevent the recurrence of mistakes. However, this requires a professional review covering operating conditions, maintenance, training and communication, rather than simply assigning blame to one individual.
An incident may result from a chain of shortcomings that requires institutional solutions to prevent recurrence at the same site or at similar locations, he said.
Under the Cabinet decision, the proposed regulation is based on prevention by requiring facilities to analyze workplace risks, identify their sources and assess them periodically, while establishing, documenting and monitoring measures to reduce them.
This would ensure that hazards are addressed before they turn into incidents, linking safety to actual operating conditions rather than merely possessing documents or equipment.
Industrial safety expert Engineer Hani Al-Rawashdeh stressed that periodic assessment is essential because facility risks can change when new equipment is introduced, storage methods are modified or the number of workers and users increases.
An old assessment may therefore no longer reflect current conditions. Risks must be reviewed and assessment findings linked to specific measures, clearly assigned responsibilities and follow-up confirming that corrective actions have been implemented.
Al-Rawashdeh added that risks differ between ports, warehouses, hotels and service facilities. Safety procedures should therefore be tailored to the nature of each activity.
Some locations require greater attention to stored materials and vehicle movements, while others need to focus on user density and evacuation routes. The common principle, however, is that no known risk should be left without appropriate measures to reduce it.
Regulating Worksites and Public Venues
The proposed regulation’s requirements are not limited to workplaces. They also cover events and tourist camps through crowd management, compliance with capacity limits, organized entry and exit, and the provision of alarm, firefighting and first-aid systems.
It also includes necessary services for elderly people, persons with disabilities and children, linking licensing and operations to a venue’s ability to safely accommodate its users.
Tour guide Mohammad Abdullah said including these requirements strengthens the concept of safety as part of the overall quality of the tourism experience.
Visitors assess a service not only on comfort but also on the clarity of instructions, the efficiency of organization and their sense that the venue is capable of protecting them. This gives compliant facilities an advantage based on trust and business continuity, he said.
The proposed regulation also includes measures to protect road users during construction and maintenance work and prohibits obstructing or occupying roads in a manner that affects public safety without prior approval.
It also sets fire-prevention requirements for buildings and residential communities and calls for maintaining elevator safety and carrying out regular maintenance, broadening attention to risks associated with everyday life.
Road and traffic safety specialist Engineer Osama Hussein said work zones need to protect pedestrians, drivers and workers alike through clear arrangements suited to the nature of each site.
Occupying a road or changing traffic routes can create risks even when the work is limited in scope. Prior approval and proper site organization can therefore help reduce unexpected hazards and maintain safe traffic movement, he said.
Hussein added that elevator safety and fire prevention require regular monitoring and maintenance because faults can develop gradually before becoming apparent to users.
Maintaining corridors, exits and protection systems in residential communities also requires clearly assigned responsibilities and cooperation among residents to ensure that safety requirements do not fall between property management and the daily use of shared facilities.
The proposed regulation also establishes a unified four-level preparedness and early-warning system. It begins with green for normal conditions, followed by yellow for increased preparedness and monitoring when an incident could potentially develop, orange for partial activation of the emergency plan when the likelihood of an incident is high, and red for full activation of the plan once an incident occurs.
This system is intended to create a common understanding among authorities and facilities of the measures required at each level.
Under the proposed regulation, penalties for violating safety requirements would be applied progressively, starting with a warning and written notice, followed by full or partial suspension of operations and eventually full or partial closure until violations are corrected and requirements are met.
This approach links the handling of violations to eliminating the underlying risk and restoring safe operating conditions, while the detailed procedures remain subject to the final approved version of the regulation.
