NHRC launches heat stress awareness campaign

The National Human Rights Committee (NHRC) announced the launch of a campaign to raise awareness about the impact of heat stress on workers' right to life and physical, mental, and psychological health.
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the importance of concerted efforts by all stakeholders, foremost of which is the commitment of employers and workers to follow the provisions approved by the state regarding the prevention and prohibition of work in high-temperature places, which protect them from heat stress, especially workers in the construction industry, and delivery service sectors, which would enhance the national progress made in the field of protecting the rights of expatriate workers.
HE Chairperson of the NHRC Maryam bint Abdullah al-Attiyah said that over the past few years, Qatar has been able to safeguard human rights aimed at ensuring human dignity and enjoyment of the right to a decent life based on the foundations of freedom, justice, equality, and tolerance; based on its Arab and Islamic values, its social and human traditions, its belief in the rule of law, and its role in protecting human rights in its comprehensive and integrated sense, which constitutes the basic foundation for national legislation, policies, and practices capable of enabling people to improve their lives for the better, as well as achieving sustainable development that is acceptable to noble human values.
HE al-Attiyah said there is no doubt that respecting, protecting, and fulfilling human rights is one of the priorities for the NHRC, mainly since expatriates from around 195 countries, whose climatic conditions differ from Qatar, work in the country.
Al Attiyah added that those expatriate workers share the Qatari citizens in the rights and freedoms stipulated in the permanent Constitution of Qatar, as well as in international and regional human rights conventions based on the principle of equality and non-discrimination.
She indicated that Qatar belongs to a geographical area whose climate is characterised by high temperature and humidity during summer. She said that given the fact that there is a large percentage of expatriate workers who work in sectors exposed to direct sunlight or in workplaces with high temperature even if they are shaded, such as the construction, gardening and industries sectors, in addition to delivery workers, there is an urgent need to continue national efforts to protect expatriate workers from heat stress.
The Chairperson of the NHRC pointed out that the general and main objective of the campaign is to raise awareness of both employers and workers about the importance of enforcing the ministerial decree No. 17 of 2021 regarding the necessary precautions to protect workers from the dangers of heat stress during the summer period, which stipulates a ban on work during peak heat hours and other measures.
This awareness campaign results in the effective application of the relevant laws and prevents the excuse of ignorance.
Regarding the sub-goals of the campaign, al-Attiyah said that the most prominent of which is securing the enforcement of legal provisions related to working conditions and protecting workers from heat stress. In addition, the campaign aims to enhance employers' and workers' compliance with legal standards stipulated in national legislation on heat stress prevention, provide information to stakeholders, including workers and employers, regarding the most effective means to comply with legal provisions related to heat stress prevention, learn about deficiencies and abuse that is not covered by the legal provisions in force, establish respect for workers' rights that are recognized nationally and internationally in Qatar, improve working conditions and the provision of a safe, healthy and sustainable environment that guarantees workers' rights.
Moreover, the awareness campaign also aims to highlight the repercussions of heat stress in the workplace on workers' productivity and efficiency. It will emphasize that a safe, healthy, and sustainable work environment is what enhances productivity and development.
She indicated that the campaigns carried out by the NHRC over the past years have contributed to the realisation of workers' rights, and thus the involvement of workers and employers in efforts to prevent heat stress.