The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, represented by the Department of Environment, Health and Safety, and in partnership with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, launched a comprehensive campaign aimed at raising awareness of the importance of implementing Ministerial Resolution 365 of 2018 regarding the establishment of working hours in the afternoon. The ban until Sunday 15 September of this year 2019.
For her part, Dr. Huda Al-Salami, Director of Environment, Health and Safety Department, stressed that the campaign focuses on several axes, the most important of which are the negative health effects of heat stress, The management teams worked to raise awareness among the administrators of construction sites and specialises in the field of environment, health and safety, and urged them to do their part in implementing and monitoring compliance with the requirements of the decision, and provide safety requirements for workers and protect them from injury as a result of exposure For direct sunlight, or stress due to high temperatures and humidity.
Al-Salami stressed that the implementation of the decision banning work at noon is in line with the municipality’s strategy to provide a safe working environment for workers and conforms with its mission to provide the highest standards of effective municipal services. This decision also confirms the keenness of institutions and departments to safeguard the lives and health of employees. Humanitarian and health standards that will provide protection to workers in areas exposed to direct sunlight.
The Director of the Environment, Health and Safety Department explained that the campaign includes the distribution of awareness leaflets and holding awareness workshops for the construction sector companies at the municipality’s headquarters and in the construction sites themselves, in order to raise awareness of the importance of taking necessary measures and knowledge of the requirements of implementing the thermal stress management program by employers and supervisors Of free and its negative health effects.
Through the campaign and its various programs, the Municipality is keen to sensitize workers working under the sun, especially in the summer, where they may be exposed to many diseases and injuries, the most important of which is heat stress.
And the emphasis on employers to provide awareness and training for their employees to understand the effects of heat stress and how to prevent it. The municipality also calls on officials of the field construction sites to take the necessary measures to protect workers from heat stress such as providing periods of rest, water permanently and shaded area