Bahrain: Outdoor Afternoon Work Ban to Begin on July 1
The Labour and Social Development Ministry has announced that all preparations have been made to begin supervision of implementation of ministerial edict 39/ 2013, on banning outdoor afternoon work in July and August.
The annual ban, prohibiting outdoor work from midday until 4pm during July and August months, aims to safeguard workers’ health, ensure their safety against heat exhaustion and sunstroke as well as prevent summer-related diseases and to reduce occupational incidents in view of the increasing temperatures and humidity, in line with the kingdom’s commitment to human rights principles, especially regarding the need to provide secure and healthy work environment.
The Labour Ministry has launched an awareness-raising campaign, urging employers and workers to comply with the provisions of the edict.
In this regard, the Ministry distributed multilingual brochures, leaflets and posts including information about the negative effects of high temperatures on workers’ safety and health, as well as on their productivity. It has also conducted virtual workshops aimed at promoting the culture of protecting workers’ safety and health at work sites in summer.
The minister indicated that an average of 98 percent of private sector companies had complied with the ban in the past years, which, he said, proves the employers’ commitment to ensuring a safe and decent work environment for employees’.
He pledged zero tolerance against violators, noting that in case the violation is repeated, the penalty will be doubled, as stipulated by the ministerial edict.
Under Edict 39/2013, a jail term not exceeding three months, and/or a BD500-BD1000 fine, is the penalty inflicted on violators.
