15 firms violate summer work ban

Manama : A  top Labour Ministry official yesterday said that 15 companies flouted the summer midday work ban, which in force in the Kingdom from July 1. 

“The companies violated the ban within the first week of July,” said Labour Affairs Undersecretary in Labour and Social Development Ministry Sabah Al Dossary.  

The two-month long ban prohibits companies from making their workers performing any tasks outside direct sunlight from 12 pm to 4 pm. 

The ban which is in place since 2007 aims to protect workers from heat-related illness such as heat exhaustion and heatstroke when temperatures soar above 40-degree Celsius. Temperatures in the Kingdom usually exceeds 46-degree Celsius during the period. 

The law also includes provisions for awarding violators with fines and imprisonment. Violators, according to the Ministry, could be sentenced to up to three months in jail and/or fined from BD500 to BD1,000 for each worker found breaching the ban.

According to Al Dossary, the ministry’s inspectors detected 33 workers breaching the ban, within the first 10 days of the ban. 

The minister has earlier urged all firms to abide by the two-month ban and provide labourers with necessary equipment to protect them from the summer heat.