Employers ‘coercing’ Laborers To Work In Scorching Heat Punished

Ministry inspectors on Tuesday found laborers working in the noon scorching heat in the district of Al-Msasayel and penalized their employers. Ahmad Dashti, chairman of the work safety in Al-Farwaniyah Governorate, said in a statement to KUNA that the workers were found pouring masonry and carrying construction materials to a building site under the day’s peak sunlight.

The national department for work safety, an affiliate of the Public Authority for Manpower, received up to 90 reports about such breaches and upon that, the monitoring teams had headed to 2001 sites since start of June to determine whether the workers were coerced to work in the days’ most scorching hours. Up to 1,502 workers were found to have been put in such difficult condition, thus the inspectors issued 785 penalties against the employers. In later reinspection, the inspectors found that 725 employing companies had heeded the terms for the acceptable work hours.

Prohibits
Meanwhile, the judicial officer at the national center, Abdullah Al-Otaibi, told KUNA that the inspectors have been examining the work conditions in compliance with the Cabinet Resolution 535/2015 that prohibits compelling the laborers to work outdoors during the summer from start of June until end of August from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. He indicated that fines set by the teams would be eventually specified by courts. There have been significant positive response on part of the employing companies since launch of the monitoring tour in 2015, Al- Otaibi affirmed, adding that the inspections would proceed until end of the current month.

Kuwait this month and the past two months witnessed the summer heat soaring to 48 degrees and above, particularly during middays. Meanwhile, the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) has issued a new statistics on results of the midday work inspection team comprising personnel from the National Center for Occupational Health and Safety during the period from June 1 to August 5, 2021, reports Al-Rai daily. The statistics shows the team inspected 2,001 sites and the number of workers found at these sites was 1,502 representing 857 companies which reportedly violated the work ban rule under the direct heat of the sun between 11 am and 4 pm for the first time. The inspectors found 725 companies adhered to the rule during re-inspection; two companies and 90 workers had failed to comply with rules upon re-inspection, who were then referred to the concerned authority for legal action.

 

 

SOURCE  ARABTIMES

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