Qatar’s commitment to workers’ rights protection and encouraging a conducive work environment for its migrant workers has seen the country adopt progressive policies over the last few years. From removing the Kafala system to introducing a minimum wage system and, most importantly, stressing the importance of safe and healthy workplace habits, Qatar has transformed its policies on workers. This has led the country to be recognised in the region as a leader in this area by major human rights groups and the United Nations (UN).
Recently, the National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) concluded its month-long awareness campaign on the effects of heat stress at work sites on mental and physical health. The initiative further validates Qatar’s heat stress prevention law, significantly impacting thousands of workers nationwide. The challenges of working on an increasingly warmer planet are affecting workers in a growing number of countries worldwide, elevating the risk of occupational heat related diseases, especially in regions with hot climates.
A Ministerial Decision announced on May 26, 2021, introduced a significant expansion of summertime working hours during which outdoor work is prohibited. The decision bans work in the morning period, after 10am until 3:30pm, for work performed in open outdoor workplaces. The initiative targeted workers in the construction, industry, and delivery services sector, enhanced national progress in protecting the rights of expatriate workers and addressed any gaps that may prevent the provision of actual and complete protection.
This year, the heat stress campaign reached around 10,000 workers and had a broad reach in the community, over social media platforms, and with accredited embassies to Qatar, according to NHRC Secretary General Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali. He said the campaign provided information for workers unaware of the details of the heat stress decision. Al Jamali said the NHRC recommends continuing awareness campaigns about heat exhaustion to raise awareness for employers and workers to dissuade people from using ignorance as an excuse.
The NHRC noted that during May of each year, extensive media campaigns must be carried out about heat exhaustion in close cooperation between all competent authorities, including distributing publications, holding seminars, and using large screens in the streets (especially in the industrial area). The awareness activities should also be presented in a simplified manner in English and the workers’ main languages of Hindi, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Nepali, Swahili, and Arabic. The heat stress decision also includes providing free drinking water, shaded rest areas, and conducting medical examinations to diagnose and manage chronic diseases at no cost to the worker.
