The Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), in co-operation with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MADLSA), Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Qatar Petroleum (QP), recently organised a number of training workshops on heat stress with the participation of about 600 occupational health and safety supervisors from major companies.
The workshops aimed to raise awareness among occupational health and safety officials about the importance of taking measures to prevent heat stress cases. They were in line with MoPH’s policy of caring for all labourer categories and its keenness to provide them with proper care and attention to maintain their safety.
The training sessions featured various lectures on heat stress, its symptoms, prevention, first-aid techniques, measuring temperature and humidity in the workplace and the effect of sunlight on the eyes. The sessions were given by representatives from the MoPH, HMC, QP and the MADLSA’s Inspection Department. Several awareness videos on heat stress were also shown.
The representatives from HMC Emergency Management Department presented statistics on heat stress injuries between 2012 and 2016. They pointed out that most heat stress cases occur during August. They stressed the importance of first aid in the workplace and the participation of safety supervisors in first-aid training to know how to deal with heat stress cases.
Jaber al-Marri, head of the Occupational Safety and Health Department at the MADLSA, spoke about the efforts of the Labour Inspection Department to protect workers against heat stress, especially through Decision No. 16 of August 31, 2007, regulating work hours during summer. The decision determines the working hours for those who work under the sun or open places.
The decision stipulates that working in open places must be banned between 11.30am and at 3pm. Employers must provide drinking water and resting places nearby, stressing that any company violating the decree will be closed for a period not exceeding one month.
Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani, director of the Public Health Department at MoPH, said through the workshops and awareness campaigns about heat stress, the ministry seeks to reduce injuries caused by high temperatures among workers to protect them from occupational diseases and injuries from working in unhealthy places.
“The National Health Strategy 2018-2022 and the Public Health Strategy 2017-2022 attach great importance to health and safety in the workplace. A special occupational health working group has been formed to support the delivery of these goals,” he added. Dr Mohamed Ali al-Hajjaj, head of the Occupational Health Section at MoPH, said that the ministry seeks through awareness campaigns and workshops to achieve one of the main occupational health goals in the Public Health Strategy 2017-2022 by making workplaces free of all diseases and occupational injuries.
He urged all employers to provide the necessary awareness and training for their employees to understand heat stress and its prevention.
He pointed out that the efforts of the occupational health inspectors through their visits to workplaces aim to educate all workers at work sites on heat stress and the symptoms as well as the importance of taking appropriate preventive measures to maintain health and safety of workers.
