NIHR launches Noon Outdoor Work Ban at Monitoring Initiative for the 2nd Year
For the 2nd year in a row, the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) launched an initiative to report violations in the employment of workers whose nature of work requires their presence in the sun and in open areas between 12:00 pm to 04:00 pm during July and August, in implementation of the Ministry of Labor and Social Development Resolution no. (3) of 2013 on the prohibition of outdoor work at noon and in the afternoon in open areas during the scheduled ban hours, which states the importance of the right to risk-free work environment, through the prohibition of work at noon and in the afternoon in the hottest months to maintain the health and safety of workers in open work areas, provide a safe work environment to protect them against the risks of heat stress and sunstroke and strengthen protection tools necessary to prevent summer diseases and potential occupational injuries, including the organization of work hours to ensure the completion of projects and works that contribute to the development process at all levels without being affected.
Whereas the call for preventing occupational hazards and supporting health conditions of workers is an integral part of the NIHR’s role within the framework of its action in the area of the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, which is stipulated by Article (12) of its Incorporation Law, including the right to decent work in a risk-free environment, and in line with the procedures and circulars issued to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), the NIHR calls on employers in private sector to provide preventive face masks and to oblige all employees to use them in worksites in order to limit the spread of infection among them. The NIHR also stresses that employers or their representatives should measure the temperature of all employees upon entering and exiting the worksites and their housing, and to immediately isolate any employee whose temperature is high in order to take the necessary action.
The NIHR also calls on employers to limit mixing in workplaces and reduce the number of employees, especially in rest rooms, waiting areas, changing rooms and transportation vehicles, and to adhere to all the requirements and precautions that need to be taken in the workers housing, due to their great importance and direct impact on the health and safety of their occupants, especially with regard to reducing the number of workers in the same room and increasing the area allocated for one workers to the maximum possible extent to achieve social distancing and keep a safe distance between them by a minimum of two meters between each of them. It is worth mentioning that the area allocated to each employee must not be less than four square meters of free space in the rooms designated for workers’ housing, as per the requirements and specifications of workers’ accommodation rules.
