232 work sites shut in June for violating summer work rule

THE Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has announced the closure of 232 sites for violating rules regarding working hours during summer.

The ministry, represented in Labor Inspection Department, has carried out intensive inspection campaigns during June, with the aim of ensuring that companies comply with Ministerial Resolution No (17) for the year 2021, regarding the necessary precautions to protect workers from heat stress in open sites during the summer.

Under this rule, workers cannot work outdoors between 10 am and 15:30 pm from June 1 to September 15.

The ministry said the field visits carried out by its inspectors on the sites during the period from June 1 to 30 resulted in the closure of 232 sites for a period of three days. Most of the erring companies work in the contracting sector on different sites.

The decision obliges companies and institutions that have workplaces under direct sunlight to set a schedule specifying the daily working hours in accordance with the provisions of the rules. The decision obliges companies to specify working hours in a visible place that is easy for all workers to see and for the ministry inspectors to observe during their inspection visits to the workplace. In addition the companies must provide air-conditioned spaces for the workers’ comfort, provide chilled drinking water and light clothing, and giving them rest at different times in order to protect them from the risk of heat stress.

The ministry called on all companies in different sectors to respect the ministerial decision in order to avoid the workplace’s partial or total closure.

As per the decision determining working hours during summer, workers cannot work outside between 10 am and 15:30 pm from June 1 to September 15