Higher standards imposed for labour camps - Ministry

Permits required for new workers’ housing in the UAE will not be granted unless accommodation meets international labour standards, under a groundbreaking new government crackdown announced on Monday.

Employers owning existing labour accommodation will have until 2014 to upgrade facilities to meet strict criteria set out in a new Ministry of Labour workers’ housing manual, which is likely to force a major shakeup of accommodation within the construction industry.

The latest government initiative to protect workers’ rights and improve accommodation standards follows a series of damning accusations about poor worker conditions within the UAE’s construction sector.

Among the raft of stipulations – which will come into force from the start of September - are that accommodation units and floors must be built from concrete or brick and must be located a safe distance from sources of environmental pollution and noise.

No more than eight to ten workers should be allowed in each bedroom, with a minimum of three square metres allowed for each worker’s bed, side table and wardrobe, according to the manual.

Humaid bin Rashid bin Daimas, the Ministry's acting director general, said: "The Ministry will make sure that the grace period and the gradual implementation will not be at the expense of workers and their rights."

He added that the decision "embodies the leadership's keenness to adopt initiatives to stamp out negative individual practices that ram the public interests and derail the government plans to enhance human rights in general and workers' rights in particular".

Accommodation must meet the requirements of health and safety standards set out by both local authorities and international labour laws on building materials, hot and cold water systems, sewerage, air-conditioning, lighting, emergency exits, fire extinguisher systems, indoor air quality and elevators.

Each complex should include its own medical clinic equipped with full services supplied by medical practitioners available at all times, including during religious and national holidays.

Bathrooms had to positioned at a distance of no more than 100 feet from any bedroom or kitchen, with each bathroom providing two toilets for every eight people. In addition, a single shower area and laundry had to be provided for every eight people.

"The employer should maintain the bathrooms’ cleanliness and equip them with full amenities such as soap, mirrors, towels, clothing ties, toilet paper and reservoirs,” states the manual.

Buildings should also occupy between 60 to 65 percent of the total complex area, with the remaining space set aside for entertainment, parking, yards, walkways and green spaces.

Each accommodation complex should also have its own mini market and playgrounds, the criteria states.

A clean, fully-equipped kitchen, conforming to recognised public health standards as set out by the local authority, had to be provided, with the use of cooking stoves or washing machines prohibited inside bedrooms.

Clothes washing should either be outsourced to a third party or completed at pre-scheduled times at laundry services within the complex under the supervision of a specific person appointed for the task or through shared laundry facilities.

A separate area for rest and watching TV had to provided within complexes too.

From September, municipality departments will not issue permits for workers’ housing, including in free zones, unless it meets the new criteria of the ‘manual of the general criteria for workers’ accommodation’.

In April, the UK’s respected BBC Panorama programme claimed to have uncovered overcrowding and filthy conditions within some labour camps, including one run by Arabtec Construction.

The government last month rejected a report by Human Rights Watch on labour conditions at Saadiyat Island, claiming that the organisation had failed to recognise its efforts to improve labour conditions in the country.

The 80-page report, claimed conditions for construction workers on the island amounted to “forced labour”.

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM