Construction workers in the Kingdom do not get any respite even as temperatures hit record highs . Okaz/Saudi Gazette RIYADH – Despite persistent warnings by the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME), many construction workers in the Kingdom are forced to work under the scorching sun. Okaz/Saudi Gazette met workers of contracting companies implementing government projects in Riyadh and other parts of the country to find out whether contracting companies were complying with the decision that requires outdoor workers to be given rest between 1.00 P.M, and 4.00 P.M. during peak summer months. The workers pointed out that many companies were not following the rules and urged the Ministry of Labor to enforce the decision since the temperatures had been rising since the middle of June. The workers said they were not in a position to insist that the management implement the rest hour rule and they could not simply stop work. “We have no choice but to endure the sizzling heat," one of them said. A worker said his schedule generally started at 6.00 A.M. and finished at 4.00 P.M. and it remained so even in peak summer months. In Jazan, contracting companies deploy their workers during the normal day hours ignoring the rule regulating outdoor work during summer. Hadi Saleh and Hassan Ali, both plasterers, and Yassin Muhammad, an iron smith, said they worked directly under the sun because they had no option but to carry out their jobs. “The company doesn't care about its workers as much as it cares about its business interests," said one of them. Hassan Al-Bahri and Mousa Khan, both carpenters, said they had been working under inhumane circumstances, but were afraid to approach the labor office because they feared losing their source of income. In Makkah, a group of workers protested the rotating work schedule that forced them to adapt to working in the heat. Shafeeq Ahmad, who works for a contracting company, said his company deducted salaries of workers who refused to work under the hot sun. “Unless a well-defined mechanism is introduced to enforce the summer working hours, the construction workers will continue to suffer without uttering a word of protest," Ahmad said. “We often fell sick as a result of working in the heat, but regrettably we still have to work," said another worker. Suhaila Zain Al-Abidin, a member of the Executive Council of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), has expressed her dismay over the delay on the part of the Labor Ministry in implementing the society's recommendations with regard to work hours during summer. “The recommendations should be implemented immediately. These workers who are also human beings should be protected from anything that endangers their heath. Weather reports indicate the temperatures could reach as high as 70 degree Celsius under direct sun in upcoming days. Our religion enjoins us to be kind to the workers," Al-Abidin said. According to NSHR recommendations, outdoor workers should be given rest from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. during peak summer months.
