Ministry issues directives for private companies to protect workers from COVID-19

As Qatar continues to ensure the safety of the population in its fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor, and Social Affairs (MADLSA) has issued a set of directives for companies in the private sector to follow to protect workers at their homes as well as their workplaces.

According to the directives, private companies should limit the working hours for workers in the construction sector to six hours a day.

The companies should also make sure the workers are fully aware of the procedures and measures the government, as well as the companies, are taking to combat COVID-19. 

Among the measures, the Ministry said, reducing gatherings of workers at their workplaces and residences must be given special attention. This is in addition to implementing safety measures to safeguard the workers from contracting the virus.

Additionally, companies should follow these measures:

- Take the temperature of workers regularly and monitor respiratory symptoms

- Observe good personal hygiene by reminding workers to wash their hands regularly, cover their mouth with their elbow if coughing or sneezing and to avoid touching their faces

- Work together with worker representatives/ welfare officers to communicate in the workers' languages to encourage them to share information, ask questions or express concerns, as well as verify information

- Increase the frequency of cleaning and sanitation of areas at work sites, accommodation, buses, bathrooms, kitchens, canteens and other places used by the workers

- Provide the workers with disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces such as doorknobs, keyboards, remote controls, and desks can be wiped down by the employees before each use.

- Make sure social gatherings are limited to the minimum, stagger entry and exit of workers from the workplace, reduce population density in the workplace and accommodation by ensuring the number of people in a room is limited to four.

- Cancel all in-person meetings that are not necessary and limit internal movement as much as possible, suspend trainings, and limit the use of common spaces including canteens and changing rooms to a specific number of workers at one time in accordance with the Ministry of Public Health's (MoPH) guidelines.

- Occupational safety and health officers and management must supervise workers regularly and ensure that protective measures are being followed. They should coordinate with public health authorities to come up with a plan to identify suspected cases and contacts with COVID-19 in workplaces and manage them properly.

- Workers' mental health (for example, anxiety about job and income security, about the risk of contracting the disease, and the situation of their family members in their home countries) should also be assessed.

- For those who have recovered from the virus, companies should make sure they are provided with the necessary psychological and social support. The companies should check the workers' temperature before they take the company buses when going or returning from their workplace, isolate any worker with high temperature and report to the MoPH hotline on the number 16000.

- Keep track of the workers' health and provide additional precautionary measures to those who are the most vulnerable to infection, such as those with chronic diseases (diabetes, heart, and respiratory diseases).

- In terms of transportation, buses used for workers' commute must limit intake to 50 percent or less of its seating capacity.

The Ministry highlighted that it will closely monitor the employers' adherence to these directives through strict inspection campaigns.

Those who fail to abide by these measures will face penalties, the Ministry said.

Moreover, companies who do not report suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 will be subjected to the penalties stipulated in Law No. 9 of 2020 amending some provisions of Decree Law No.17 of 1990 regarding the prevention of infectious diseases, the Ministry mentioned.

The Ministry recently also issued an advisory on March 28 on how to maintain workers' health and safety.

For any queries, or concerns related to COVID-19 in Qatar, the public can contact a 24/7 hotline set up by the Ministry. The hotline number is 16000 and is toll-free.

Here's everything you need to know about the virus, including ways to protect yourself. 

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Source: MADLSA