Summer: work in the open not allowed from 10am-3.30pm

Labourers installing scaffolding at the construction site of a new building in Doha (file).

The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has begun implementing the ministerial decision No 17 for the year 2021, on the precautions necessary to protect workers from heat stress in open work sites during the summer period, QNA reported. The ministry said in a statement, that according to the decision that came into effect to replace Resolution No 16 issued in 2007, working hours are determined for work performed under the sun or in open workplaces (and other than shaded and ventilated workplaces), during the period from June 1 to September 15 of each year, under which it is not permitted to start work from 10am in the morning until 3.30pm in the evening. The ministry emphasised that the employer should set a schedule for determining the daily working hours in accordance with the provisions of this decision, and place this schedule in a visible place to make it easy for all workers to view, and labour inspectors can observe on their inspection visits. It stressed the need to stop working in open areas if the temperature index scale of the wet bulb (WBGT) device exceeds 32.1C in a specific workplace, regardless of when this occurs.