DOHA: Labour inspectors will now be able to mount surprise raids on construction sites at any time to check their compliance with occupational safety rules.
The move aims at tightening screws on construction and contracting companies and make sure they strictly adhere to safety regulations for workers. The practice until now has been that labour inspectors inform a company in advance of an approximate date for inspection of its worksite.
Advance information alerts companies and helps them make their worksites ready for labour inspection to show full compliance with workers’ safety guidelines, according to a construction industry insider.
“We get notified by labour inspectors enough in advance. For example, they say they will come for inspection between the 10th and 15th of a month. So these five-six days we are well-prepared for any checks,” said the insider who is actually a site supervisor.
He said surprise raids by labour inspectors will have a positive impact on construction and contracting companies. “They need to be on an alert all the time. That would indeed ensure their compliance with worker safety rules all the time.”
The State Cabinet yesterday approved a draft decision of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs to amend some provisions of its previous decision (Number 13 of 205) regulating labour inspection procedures.
The new decision, now approved by the Cabinet, allows labour inspectors to enter a construction site at any time without notifying the company in advance.
Upon reaching the site, an inspector can inform the site supervisor of his arrival. However, if he suspects that by informing the supervisor or manager he wouldn’t be able to carry out his duties well, he could do without it.
Contacted for comment, investment expert Abdullah Al Khater, while welcoming the decision, said that labour inspectors should not mount surprise raids with a prejudiced mind. “Sometimes it’s a worker’s fault for which a company can be punished. Like a worker is smoking where it is not allowed, so the inspector should fault him, and not the company,” he said.
“In the final analysis, though, it’s a good move as construction and contracting companies will now take workers’ safety at sites seriously,” he said. But inspectors should be well-qualified and well-trained in their job, he added.
The Peninsula
