Minister discusses labour issues with ILO chief

HE the Minister of Labour and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Labour Organisation Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri met Monday with the Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo, on the sidelines of the meetings of the Board of Directors of the ILO in Geneva.During the meeting, aspects of co-operation between Qatar and the ILO were discussed and ways to support and develop them.The two sides discussed the most prominent issues raised at the level of the global labour sector, especially in light of the challenges facing many economies in various countries of the world, which directly affects the work environment, requires finding successful solutions to overcome the effects of crises, which have left many negative effects on the global labour market.With regards to Qatar's Labour sector, HE Dr al-Marri discussed with Houngbo the predominant advancements shaping the occupational landscape within Qatar.HE the Minister stressed that Qatar was keen to continue co-operation with the ILO because of its positive impact on the work environment in the State over the past few years, praising the efforts of the ILO office project in Doha for close co-operation with the Ministry of Labour.HE Dr al-Marri reviewed the efforts of the Ministry of Labour to maintain the work environment in Qatar and improve occupational safety and health requirements at work sites, noting that the efforts made by the ministry contributed to a significant decrease in the total number of injuries at work sites.The minister noted the cooling jacket model that is used at work sites to reducing the effects of high temperatures during the summer, noting that the jacket contributes to reducing the worker's body temperature by an average of 15C.He said that studies conducted jointly by the Ministry of Labour and the ILO confirmed the jacket's effectiveness in reducing heat stress risks and ensuring the protection of HE Dr al-Marri presented a model of the cooling jacket as a symbolic gift to the Director-General of ILO.