News from RRC Middle East

Bahrain bans work on construction sites from 1200 hrs midday to 1600 under direct sun during summer months, July and August.

A ministerial order number 24/2007 published in the Official Gazette dated 12th July 2007 has banned all construction workers, whose jobs require them to work in open spaces or under the direct sun, from working between midday and 1600 hours.

This order applies for the summer months of July and August. The temperature has reached 45°C lately and is expected to rise to 50°C.

The Annual Safety Conference organised by the Bahraini Ministry of Labour "Supreme Safety Committee", held at the Diplomat from 2nd to 5th July 2007, made a number of recommendations summarised below:

Recommendations to the Government

• Approve a proposal to create one Government Agency (similar to the HSE in the UK) responsible for developing safety strategies, proposing legislation and enforcement. This is to replace the current fragmented many departments within the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Health and Environmental Affairs.
• Support the Supreme Safety Committee in the development of new safety legislation, their published National Safety Strategy and drive toward joining international conventions.
• The importance of establishing a list of all occupational illnesses and the need to study their long-term effects on workers.
• The importance of holding health and safety conferences and seminars organised by the Supreme Safety Committee.
• Invitation to the Ministry of Education to actively participate in developing a national curriculum that is taught to students at different grades containing principles of safety culture.
• Bahrain Centre for Research and Development to commission research in the field of occupational health and safety that could benefit both employers and legislators.
• Encourage higher education establishments to offer occupational health and safety degree programmes to produce highly qualified safety professionals.
• Support the newly issued Ministerial Order to ban construction workers from working under direct sun from 1200 to 1600 hours during July and August.
• Establish a National Award carrying the name of a national figure for outstanding safety performance in all sectors of industry.

Employers

• Stress the importance of adherence to all legal health and safety requirements designed to protect employees, specifically in the construction industry.
• The importance of supporting safety professionals within organisations and developing their competence level to internationally recognised levels.
• The importance of developing and actively involving safety committees within organisations as required by law.
• Encourage the exchange of experience and knowledge between medium and small size organisations.

Employees

• Support all employees in their right to have a safe and healthy work environment.
• Stress the need for health and safety training for all employees and support to trade unions to encourage their representatives to participate in all aspects of the safety system.
• Invite employees to participate in spreading and creating safety awareness among the public.
• Invite the General National union assembly to train and develop their representatives to take an active part in safety committees.

Hasan AlAradi, Managing Director of RRC Middle East, comments as follows:

• The above recommendations do not provide practical steps of how to achieve the 'wish list'. We cannot create government agencies that would be hollow and lack competency to end up like any other existing government body.
• The Supreme Safety Committee "strategies" referred to in the recommendations are not available to the public domain and are very limited in scope.
• We need to invite experts to coach our existing team of government safety inspectors and safety professionals.
• We hold these conferences and produce many papers and recommendations, but walking outside the hotel (venue of the conference) you would witness the unsafe conditions and the lack of standards and enforcement efforts.

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