Ministry of labour launches occupational heat stress study

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs has begun a study on measuring the impact of occupational heat stress on productivity at various sites in Qatar. The study is conducted in co-operation with World Labour Organisation, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) and will look to place a strategic framework that helps companies evaluate the occupational heat stress risks as well as the appropriate way of alleviating it. The two-month study will be carried out by the University of Thessaly’s FAME Laboratory in Greece. It will focus especially on the planning and construction sectors, in addition to a number of sites related to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The SC’s projects undertook a number of techniques to tackle occupational heat stress, most prominently the cooling technology that is used in all of its sites. Assistant Undersecretary for Labour Affairs at the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), Mohamed Hassan al-Obaidli, said that the protection of labourers from the risks they face is the state’s moral duty towards them. He added that the rise in summer temperatures in the GCC is one of the risks that the state focused on placing the appropriate policies to address. He stressed that the study they are about to undertake will be one of the most valuable in terms of providing insight into the necessary measures that need to be taken to protect workers. Meanwhile, the director of ILO Project Office for Qatar said that there is no clear consensus on the best methods of addressing occupational heat stress. He welcomed the study, saying it is a new contribution in that regard.