{"id":13191,"date":"2023-05-09T10:24:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.famelab.gr\/?p=13191"},"modified":"2023-05-09T10:24:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:24:55","slug":"experts-say-qatar-can-lead-gulf-on-protections-for-workers-against-heat-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/experts-say-qatar-can-lead-gulf-on-protections-for-workers-against-heat-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts say Qatar can lead Gulf on protections for workers against heat stress"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__medium__1kbOh text__heading_3__1kDhc heading__base__2T28j heading__heading_3__3aL54 article-header__title__3Y2hh\" data-testid=\"Heading\">Experts say Qatar can lead Gulf on protections for workers against heat stress<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Heading\">By\u00a0<a class=\"author-name__author__1gx5k\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/andrew-mills\/\" rel=\"author\">Andrew Mills<\/a><button class=\"loadable-tooltip__caretWrapper__2O1XB loadable-tooltip__visible__11tFH loadable-tooltip__authorCaret__2bSAc\" type=\"button\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" aria-expanded=\"true\" aria-label=\"Andrew Mills quick links\"><\/button><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Heading\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-13192 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.famelab.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Experts-say-Qatar-can-lead-Gulf-on-protections-for-workers-against-heat-stress.png\" alt=\"Experts say Qatar can lead Gulf on protections for workers against heat stress\" width=\"707\" height=\"486\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Heading\">Image: Migrant labourers work at a construction site at the Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar, March 26, 2016. REUTERS\/Naseem Zeitoon\/File Photo<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body__content__17Yit\">\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-0\">DOHA, May 9 (Reuters) &#8211; International occupational health experts will urge Qatar on Tuesday to establish a heat stress &#8220;center of excellence&#8221; to influence other Gulf countries to strengthen protections for workers against extreme heat and humidity, two of the experts said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-1\">The experts, in Doha for a conference the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilo.org\/global\/lang--en\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">International Labour Organisation<\/a> is convening, will call on wealthy gas producer Qatar to build on rules it introduced in 2021, recognized as the most extensive in the Gulf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-2\">Qatar can &#8220;disseminate this work, support other countries (and) provide them with a roadmap of how they can address this problem across the Arab region,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/people\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u0391\u039d\u0394\u03a1\u0395\u0391\u03a3 \u03a6\u039b\u039f\u03a5\u03a1\u0397\u03a3<\/a>, an associate professor at Greece&#8217;s University of Thessaly, told Reuters ahead of the meetings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-3\">Workers in the Gulf are exposed to temperatures in excess of 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit), which researchers and NGOs say puts them at risk of heat-related illnesses, traumatic injury and death.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-4\">Qatar has said previously it protects workers by prohibiting outdoor work between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. from June 1 until mid-September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-5\">Qatar bans work from more than twice the hours banned in Saudi Arabia, where the majority of the region&#8217;s construction projects are underway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-6\">Jason Glaser, head of occupational health research organization <a href=\"https:\/\/laislanetwork.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">La Isla Network<\/a>, said Qatar was &#8220;a small use case where we can get it right&#8221; and export solutions to larger Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-7\">&#8220;Qatar has the resources and the brain trust to improve surveillance, improve design, improve implementation &#8230; to ensure it&#8217;s actually working in the country.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-8\">The government media office did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text__text__1FZLe text__dark-grey__3Ml43 text__regular__2N1Xr text__large__nEccO body__full_width__ekUdw body__large_body__FV5_X article-body__element__2p5pI\" data-testid=\"paragraph-9\">James Lynch, director of human rights group FairSquare, who was not at the conference, said Qatar&#8217;s heat stress protections do not go far enough and called on authorities to guarantee workers adequate rest time and effectively investigate the worker deaths, many of which go unexplained.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-9\">Reporting by Andrew Mills; Editing by Stephen Coates<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/experts-say-qatar-can-lead-gulf-protections-workers-against-heat-stress-2023-05-09\/#:~:text=DOHA,%20May%209%20(Reuters),two%20of%20the%20experts%20said\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/experts-say-qatar-can-lead-gulf-protections-workers-against-heat-stress-2023-05-09\/#:~:text=DOHA,%20May%209%20(Reuters),two%20of%20the%20experts%20said<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph-1\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Experts say Qatar can lead Gulf on protections for workers against heat stress By\u00a0Andrew Mills Image: Migrant labourers work at a construction site at the Aspire Zone in Doha, Qatar, March 26, 2016. REUTERS\/Naseem Zeitoon\/File Photo DOHA, May 9 (Reuters) &#8211; International occupational health experts will urge Qatar on Tuesday to establish a heat stress [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/famelab.gr\/el\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}