Work ban ends on Monday

TDT | Manama

Bahrain’s two-month outdoor work ban which began on 1 July will come to an end this Monday. This year’s work ban which came amid the deadly coronavirus outbreak presented several unprecedented challenges especially to the construction industry, which employs over 150,000 labourers in about 30,000 worksites.

The annual ban, first introduced in 2007 and kicks off on the first of every July, prohibits working in open worksite from midday until 4:00 pm. Though limited initially to construction workers, the law was later expanded to included labourers in all sectors, considering the successful reduction in workplace incidents.

This year, the Labour Ministry said it carried out 6,315 inspections, while also recommending legal actions against 27 establishments for violating restrictions put in place to safeguard workers from soaring temperatures. The ministry also announced referring 37 workers to the judiciary for similar violations, a report by Albilad quoting Labour Ministry said.

Explaining other actions taken during the ban period, the ministry said it conducted several awareness-raising campaigns and virtual-workshops to educate employers and workers on the negative impacts of working under high temperatures. The ministry said it also distributed multilingual brochures and leaflets as part of campaigns.

Earlier in July, Jameel Humaidan, the minister of labour and social development, described the work ban as the best means for safeguarding workers against heat exhaustion, sunstroke, summer-related diseases and several occupational incidents. He also said that in the past 98 per cent of private sector companies had complied with the work ban.