Municipalities provide sunshades to cleaners

JEDDAH: Municipalities in various regions have provided thousands of sunshades to sanitary workers days before the Ministry of Labor and Social Development’s three-month ban on working under the sun between noon and 3 p.m. starts Thursday.

Riyadh municipality has directed sanitary contractors to provide 6,000 sunshades to cleaning workers.

Tabuk municipality has provided 400 carts with sunshades to workers assigned to main streets, and 1,000 head shades for workers throughout the city.

Municipalities in Qassim have distributed carts with sunshades to workers throughout the region.

The ban, effective June 15 through Sept. 15, is to guarantee the safety of employees in the private sector, the ministry said.

The ministry is working to upgrade protection to minimize work-related incidents, said ministry spokesman Khalid Aba Al-Khail, adding that some provinces will be exempt from the decision due to differences in temperature.