Doha: Thirty-three companies have been notified of closure of worksites for three days for violating the provisions of decision regarding working hours in open workplaces during summer, the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs yesterday said.
The Ministry’s inspectors have conducted intensive inspection drives during the period from July 5 to July 16 to ensure companies’ compliance with Ministerial Decision No. 16 for 2007, specifying working hours during the summer for work performed under the sun or in the open places.
The work done under the sun or in open workplaces must not be longer than five hours in the morning and must stop between 11.30am and 3pm.
Most of the violating companies were in Al Wakra, Rawdat Al Hamama, Al Kharaitiyat, Lusail, Um al Sanim, Al Kheesa, Al Thumama, and Al Khor. The Ministry has called on all companies to adhere to work hours during the summer for work performed under the sun or in open workplaces, said the Ministry in a statement on its website.
The Ministerial Decision No. 16 for 2007 determines the working hours for work performed under the sun or open spaces during the period from June 15 to August 31 of each year, so that it does not exceed five hours in the morning shift and ends before 11.30 am, while the evening shift starts at 3pm.
The Ministry further said that since it started its drives from June 15, 2020 to July 16, 2020 it has closed 173 worksites of companies in different areas. The decision obliges companies and institutions that have work sites under direct sunlight to set a schedule for determining daily working hours in accordance with the provisions of this decision and also places the schedule on a prominent place that is visible to all workers.
The companies have also to provide air-conditioned spaces for the workers’ comfort and provide cold water and light clothing to workers. They should also give workers rest periods at different times in order to protect them from the risk of thermal stress.
