Red Sea Global Opens its First Health and Safety Training Academy

This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA
This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA
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Red Sea Global Opens its First Health and Safety Training Academy

This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA
This is Red Sea Global's first Health and Safety Training Academy - SPA

The Red Sea Global (RSG) has announced the opening of its first Health and Safety Training Academy in Saudi Arabia, following a pilot phase during which 1,000 workers were trained.
The academy offers free training for RSG's workforce, partners, and contractors, supporting the development of essential construction skills and safety capabilities. RSG's comprehensive training portfolio adheres to the highest international safety standards, including being certified by international organizations such as Highfield, IOSH, and NEBOSH, it said in a statement. 
Group Head of Health and Safety at RSG John Dunne stated that "by ensuring exemplary safety protocols across all RSG's developments, the academy aims to become the benchmark institution for health and safety training for Saudi Arabia and beyond."
"Our recent IOSH accreditation marks a significant milestone in RSG's commitment to safety excellence. As an approved partner and licensed provider of the IOSH Working Safely course in English and Hindi, we are equipping our workforce and partners with vital safety skills. This partnership with IOSH reflects our dedication to fostering a safe and inclusive work environment across all our projects," he added.
A unique aspect of the academy is its practical, construction-themed training, the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. The curriculum includes vivid simulations to demonstrate the real consequences of safety violations, making it the first in the Kingdom to emphasize practical and visual learning over traditional classroom-based instruction. Equipped with modern indoor classrooms, outdoor training stations, and specialized safety areas, the facility enables trainees to build critical safety competencies through a mix of theoretical and comprehensive hands-on training. Practical equipment such as Scaffolding, Walking Work Platforms, Gantry Cranes, Confined Space chambers, and CPR training facilities enable trainees to develop critical safety skills, fostering a robust culture of safety.
"By ensuring exemplary safety protocols across all RSG's developments, the academy aims to become the benchmark institution for health and safety training for Saudi Arabia," the statement emphasized.
Furthermore, RSG has achieved another significant milestone by obtaining an official license to deliver IOSH Working Safety Training in both English and Hindi. This course focuses on mitigating hazards effectively, giving workers an understanding of why they must work safely. Following IOSH's thorough review of RSG's safety standards and facilities, RSG received authorization to deliver this training. This capability significantly elevates the developer's training standards, as it can now conduct these sessions in-house rather than relying on third-party providers.
The statement highlighted that last year, RSG hit remarkable milestones in health and safety. These included reaching 10 million hours worked without a Lost Time Injury (LTI) on Shura Island, set to open this year, and achieving 11 million hours worked without an LTI on Shebara Resort, which commenced operations in October 2024.



Mexico Awaits New Response from Google on Dispute Over Gulf of Mexico Name Before Filing Lawsuit 

The Gulf of Mexico branded as Gulf of America is pictured through a magnifying glass on the Google Maps app on a computer in Bogota on February 11, 2025. (AFP)
The Gulf of Mexico branded as Gulf of America is pictured through a magnifying glass on the Google Maps app on a computer in Bogota on February 11, 2025. (AFP)
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Mexico Awaits New Response from Google on Dispute Over Gulf of Mexico Name Before Filing Lawsuit 

The Gulf of Mexico branded as Gulf of America is pictured through a magnifying glass on the Google Maps app on a computer in Bogota on February 11, 2025. (AFP)
The Gulf of Mexico branded as Gulf of America is pictured through a magnifying glass on the Google Maps app on a computer in Bogota on February 11, 2025. (AFP)

Mexico said Monday it is awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name “Gulf of Mexico” to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit.

President Claudia Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to her government from Cris Turner, Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy. It says that Google will not change the policy it outlined after US President Donald Trump declared the body of water the Gulf of America.

“We will wait for Google’s response and if not, we will proceed to court,” Sheinbaum said Monday during a morning press briefing.

As it stands, the gulf appears in Google Maps as “Gulf of America” within the United States, as “Gulf of Mexico” within Mexico and “Gulf of Mexico” (Gulf of America) elsewhere. Turner in his letter said the company was using “Gulf of America” to follow “longstanding maps policies impartially and consistently across all regions” and that the company was willing to meet in person with the Mexican government.

“While international treaties and conventions are not intended to regulate how private mapping providers represent geographic features, it is our consistent policy to consult multiple authoritative sources to provide the most up to date and accurate representation of the world,” he wrote.

Mexico has argued that the mapping policy violates Mexican sovereignty because the US only has jurisdiction over around 46% of the Gulf. The rest is controlled by Mexico, which controls 49% and Cuba, which controls around 5%. The name “Gulf of Mexico” dates back to 1607 and is recognized by the United Nations.

In response to Google's letter, Mexican authorities said they would take legal action, writing that “under no circumstance will Mexico accept the renaming of a geographic zone within its own territory and under its jurisdiction.”

The renaming of the body of water by Trump has flared tensions between Mexico and the US at a pivotal time for the neighboring allies.

Sheinbaum has had to walk a fine line with Trump amid threats of tariffs and Mexico and other Latin American countries have braced themselves for promised mass deportations, the brunt of which has still not been felt.

Along with the legal threat to Google, the Mexican president also announced Monday that Mexico and the US would hold high-level meetings this week on trade and security in an effort to maintain a “long-term plan of collaboration” between the two countries.

It's the latest round of talks between the two countries in which Mexico hopes to hold off a larger geopolitical crisis.