Summer work ban a great success

This year’s compliance rate with the summer work ban enforced to ensure workers safety was 98.5 percentage, senior Labour Ministry officials confirmed. The summer work ban ended on Friday and 156 violations were noted from companies caught flouting rules. However, the summer work ban, which is enforced to ensure that labourers are not forced to work bearing the scorching temperatures outside, was a success as the vast number of firms complied with the ban.

The number of violations during the past two months amounted to just 1.5 percent. Labour Ministry Undersecretary Sabah Al Dosari confirmed to Tribune that the number of violations were much smaller when compared to the compliance rate. “ M a x i m u m n u m b e r o f (98.5pc) firms strictly followed the summer work ban enforced in July,” he told Tribune.

The violating firms have been referred for legal action. According to the ban, firms should grant a rest period for workers from noon to 4pm. The law protects the workers form the heat wave which is common during these hours in June and July. The temperatures crossed 45C on several days in June, while July temperatures also remained high. However, this year’s violations were more than last year when the violations were less than 100. Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan praised the high level of compliance.

“The high level of compliance reflects the interest of all stakeholders in ensuring a safe working environment for workers in the Kingdom,” the minister said.