Summer sun plays havoc with workers

Emergency units of the Central and Mafraq hospitals have registered 315 cases of sunstroke since the beginning of August.

Salih Abdullah, head of the Abu Dhabi Central Hospital Emergency Unit (ACHEU), said most of the patients are construction workers from Asian countries, who are required to work under the sun.

He added that ACHEU has received from early August to last Monday 215 cases of sunstroke, most of which took place between August 10 and 15. There were 40 cases registered on August 15 alone.

On the other hand, Mafraq Hospital stated that it received 100 cases during the same period.
Sayed Al Balasi, Director of Preventive Medicine Department (PMD) at the Ministry of Health, explained that his department has endeavoured to raise awareness among employers to safeguard their employees against sunstroke, but that the department does not have any authority to force employers to adopt precautionary measures.

Dr Ghassan Shakir Mahmoud, head of Occupational Health at the PMD, listed a number of instructions employers must follow to protect their employees from the risk of sunstroke.

These include a roster for rest and work, provision of cool water, headcovers for workers, and trained personnel to provide first-aid for those affected by sunstroke.

Dr Mahmoud recommended that workers start working early in the morning and halt between 12pm and 3.30pm, when temperature and humidity are very high.

Some workers called on the Ministry of Labour to include in the upcoming labour law an article obligating employers to reduce working hours in the summer for construction workers.

Ministry sources confirmed that the new labour law has set daily work hours at eight hours. The law also prohibits employers from making their workers continue with their work for five successive hours without a break. The law obligates employers to provide safety measures for workers at the worksites.

Sources further said that there is no article in the labour law that explicitly forces employers to reduce work hours in specific periods of the year. Such a move would be left up to the discretion of the firm.

Sources said that the Labour Law does not obligate companies which operate outdoors to reduce working hours.

The law "specifies 16 occupations which require reduction of work hours in accordance with the nature of work itself and not the climate. The works include oil refinery, cement, ice manufacturing, cold storages, gas bottling, chemical labs, fertilizers and mineral industry, wax industry, mining, glass sugar refinery, and edible oil factories."

The same sources said that the ministry will soon launch inspection campaigns on a number of construction sites to ensure that firms are abiding by occupational safety measures.