Workers will now get transportation support to attend labour sessions, in addition to regular heat stress awareness sessions.
Qatar’s Ministry of Labour (MoL), in coordination with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund (WSIF), has launched a nationwide awareness campaign to highlight the risks of heat stress and promote preventive measures.
The campaign will target workers across various sectors, aiming to ensure a safe working environment in light of the soaring summer temperatures.
“The campaign aims to educate workers about the symptoms of heat stress, such as dizziness, headache, excessive sweating (or its absence), fatigue, and loss of consciousness, and provide them with practical guidance on how to respond,” a report on Qatar News Agency, detailing the initiative, read.
The country’s Ministerial Decision No. 17 of 2021 mandates the preparation of a risk assessment, the adoption of mitigation measures, and the provision of due training for workers, in addition to the provision of basic facilities such as drinking water, shaded rest areas, and personal protective equipment.
Similarly, it prohibits outdoor work from 10:00am to 3:30pm in the peak summer months, from June 1 to September 15 and reserves the right of the workers to “remove themselves from specific situations when they have a reason to believe that heat stress is a threat to their safety or health”.
MoL’s campaign, hence, is the latest of its annual awareness campaigns to raise ground-level awareness, collaborating with both public and private entities.
The sessions are being attended by specialists from the MoL, MoPH and WSIF and emphasise on compulsorily sticking with simple measures that can “significantly reduce the risks of heat-related illnesses and improve overall worker well-being”, according to QNA.
Employers are also being urged to provide annual training on heat stress prevention on their own, no later than May each year, as well as check-ups to identify health conditions heightening heat risks by the ministry.
Workers’ transport to labour dispute sessions covered
The WSIF also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Qatar’s Ministry of Transport (MoT) to provide transportation solutions for workers needing to attend labour dispute sessions.
The deal was signed by MoT’s Acting Assistant Undersecretary of Land Transport, Hamad Issa Abdullah, and WSIF Executive Director, Kholoud Saif Al-Kubaisi, on Monday.
“The MoU reflects both parties’ commitment to uphold the policies that safeguard workers’ rights, ensure workers’ services accessibility, and reinforce the principles of intergovernmental collaboration,” the ministry said in a statement.
Similarly, both entities will “strengthen cooperation in areas of common interest” as a part of the deal. Clauses included in the MoU aims to remove logistical barriers that may hinder workers in pursuing legal rights, the statement added, complementing the wider Qatari push to enhance workers’ access to justice.
Enhancing workers’ access to justice was also the key agenda in an event organised in June to mark International Domestic Workers Day.
Roula Hamati, the Migration Management Officer for the IOM Mission in Qatar, said during the event that recent changes in provisions had caused “qualitative changes” in the ground reality for the workers.
