LABOURERS ARE DYING IN OMAN
Six members of construction crews fall to deaths in one week as high temperatures and fasting take safety toll
Six building workers have fallen to their deaths in country’s high heat,
MUSCAT // Six construction workers have fallen to their deaths in the first week of Ramadan as temperatures in Oman touched 50°C.
The country is experiencing its hottest Ramadan in eight years, according to the weather bureau, and fasting labourers working outdoors are particularly vulnerable to the intense heat.
Four of the workers who died were from Bangladesh and the other two from Pakistan. Most of the deaths were caused by head injuries, hospital records showed.
Last year, hospitals registered nine worker deaths as a result of falls during Ramadan.
With about 15 hours between sunrise and sunset this Ramadan, labourers are becoming disoriented as a result of dehydration, doctors said.
“They lose fluid very quickly working out in the open under the heat of the sun. They get weak and dizzy and just fall to the ground. Some are lucky and just get injured. The others, unfortunately, lose their lives,” said Dr Sadiqa Tariq, a doctor from Al Hail Health Centre.
People living near construction sites said they saw the labourers working full days.
“They work from seven in the morning to six in the evening with just a one-hour break in between. They don’t get the benefit of reduced working hours in Ramadan. Most of the day they are out in the open while fasting,” said Aous Al Farsi, whose house is next to a construction site in Muscat.
The government reduces the working day by two hours during the month of Ramadan, but companies are not required to follow the rule if they pay overtime for the extra hours worked. Construction workers in Oman typically get paid about 180 rials (Dh1,718) a month. Mohammed Jamal, a bricklayer, fell from the scaffolding of a building on which he was working during Ramadan last year but survived with a broken leg. He returned to work after two months.
“We don’t get any relief in Ramadan. It is the same working hours,” Mr Jamal said.
“It is hard to work while fasting. You get dizzy and very weak but we need the money to send home to our families for Eid. We have no choice.”
‘ They lose fluid very quickly working out in the open under the heat of the sun. They get weak and dizzy and just fall to the ground
Dr Sadiqa Tariq A doctor from Al Hail Health Centre