Summer work ban success

TDT | Manama

The rate of compliance with Bahrain’s summer afternoon outdoor work ban reached 99.7 per cent this year, Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel bin Mohammed Ali Humaidan announced yesterday. The high success rate reflects a commitment to the initiative, given its humanitarian and economic dimensions, and its ultimate goal of protecting workers from the dangers of labouring during difficult summer weather conditions.

While commenting on the end of the afternoon outdoor work ban for this summer, the Labour Minister said that the ministry’s specialised teams carried out 13,658 surprise and regular inspection visits to work sites during the ban, which started on July 1 and which ended yesterday. The teams reported 30 violating establishments and 42 workers while noting that legal action will be taken against them.

The Labour Minister praised the compliance of the majority of establishments and companies with the ban, stressing the government’s keenness on supporting all measures aimed at protecting workers and ensuring their safety at various work sites, out of its interest in protecting human rights. The Labour Minister added that the growing rate of compliance with the edict, which prohibits work from noon to 4pm, reflects the prestigious status enjoyed by Bahrain in the field of human rights respect.

This is particularly for those workers who are participating in nation-building and in the Kingdom’s development march. The Labour Minister affirmed that the ministerial edict on the work ban and the civilised behaviour of employers and workers place the Kingdom among the advanced countries in ensuring workers’ rights, through the provision of a safe and secure work environment, free from injuries and occupational diseases. Under the ministerial edict on the summer afternoon outdoor work ban, a jail term not exceeding three months, and/ or a fine between BD500 and BD1,000, is the penalty inflicted on violators.