Workers receive water bottles at a construction site.
With the sun shining in full strength, the Ministry of Public Health, in cooperation with Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA), Hamad Medical Corporation and Qatar Petroleum, are going to hold a series of workshops for health and occupational safety supervisors.
The workshop will start tomorrow to raise awareness among labourers about heat exhaustion, its symptoms and protection. ADLSA every year announces restrictions on working in open areas during the summer season.
The implementation of restriction starts in June and continues until the end of August. The restriction is in accordance with the Ministerial Decree No 16 of 2007 determining the working hours in open work places during the summer.
Heat exhaustion happens due to long exposure to direct sun heat where the body loses big quantities of liquid and salt causing disorder in body’s functions. Reasons causing heat exhaustion include high temperature, humidity and lack of having enough quantity of liquids and hard works under direct sun heat and wearing unsuitable clothes.
Meanwhile, Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS) has organised five informative sessions for 600 workers of engineering and contracting as part of its ongoing strategy of medical care and health education for expatriate workers in Qatar.
The sessions involved theoretical and practical training which were implemented by a team of four doctors and six nurses who taught the multilingual course. The sessions were conducted in in Arabic, English, Hindi, and Urdu to ensure clear and effective delivery of information.
The initiative aims at advancing the health conditions of this important segment of the society and improving their personal hygiene.
The purpose of these sessions was to raise health awareness among the beneficiaries, change their common wrong practices, and reduce their morbidity rates, thus helping increase safety and productivity, which will ultimately reflect positively on the Qatari economy at large.
The sessions focused on how to observe personal hygiene standards and prevent health problems, particularly communicable diseases and the consequences of smoking.
QRCS has urged different companies and institutions working in Qatar to pursue its health education program for expatriate workers in their projects, as well as secure hygiene kits for them, in view of its considerable benefits for the health of workers, which is in the best interest of the beneficiary companies themselves.
This prolonged program is inspired by QRCS's commitment to social development and health promotion in the Qatari society. With lower illness rates particularly among workers, there will be less demand on healthcare services and fewer sick leaves.
This, in turn, will translate into shorter absenteeism and higher productivity, contributing to the ambitious economic and social development strategy under Qatar National Vision 2030.
