Cairo: Kuwaiti labour authorities have warned 281 companies in the past 17 days for failure to observe a summer ban on working outdoors that went into effect earlier this month, an official said.
On June 1, Kuwait started enforcing the ban on working in direct sun daily from 11am till 4pm for three months.
“Inspection teams toured 377 sites in different areas of the country until June 17,” said Asil Al Muzaid, a spokeswoman for the Public Authority of Manpower. “Some 439 workers were spotted at the sites and 281 violating companies were exposed during that period. They were warned to redress infringements,” she told Kuwaiti newspaper Al Anba.
A second inspection conducted later exposed a violation of the ban in a single site, the official added.
Authorities have, meanwhile, received 22 electronic reports about further breaches of the ban, she added without details.
The official urged employers to abide by the ban for their workers’ safety. “The aim of the decree is to protect public health, not to disrupt work. Evening work hours can compensate [for the noon ban],” she said.
The ban is seasonal in the Arab Gulf countries, home to large communities of migrant workers, in summer when the mercury shoots up.
