The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour & Social Affairs, represented by the Labour Inspection Department, has conducted intensive inspection campaigns recently to ensure that companies comply with the provisions of Ministerial Resolution No 16 of 2007 regarding working hours in outdoor workplaces or work sites that are under direct sunlight.

The field visits by the Ministry's inspectors to the workplaces during the period from June 18 to July 2 resulted in reporting 84 companies that violated the ministerial resolution. Those companies' sites were closed for three days due to their violation of the ministerial decision, which prohibits work between 11:30am and 3pm, during the specified period from June 15 to August 31 of every year.

The decision obliges companies and institutions that have work sites under direct sunlight to setting a schedule of daily working hours in accordance with the provisions of the decision, and to display it in a place that is easy for all workers to see, and for inspectors to observe during their visits to the workplace. The ministerial decision also obligates the companies to provide air-conditioned spaces for the workers, cool water, light clothes, and allocating rest periods at different times to protect them from the risk of heat stress.

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour & Social Affairs, has requested that all companies from different sectors to comply with the provisions of the ministerial resolution, and forbid working in exposed/outdoor workplaces under the direct sunlight during this period.


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