The Heat Is On

Today the mandatory midday break rule for labourers started in the UAE.  The rule, which ensures companies give anyone who works in an open area during the summer months a break from 12.30pm to 3pm, is considered one of the most prominent and important preventative measures in protecting workers from the risk of working under direct sunlight in extreme high temperatures.

The three-month midday break rule will last through till September 15th.  Employers have to provide a shaded area for workers to rest during the midday break, and also provide adequate preventative methods to protect workers from work-related injuries, including water, salt and lemons.  Labourers are not allowed to work at all during the banned hours if they usually work outside, but companies working on emergency projects can continue to work.

Although the Don is not a labourer or an emergency worker, some of the work that he does still falls under the midday break rule.  In many of the 4-week classes he teaches, two of those weeks will see him instructing outside at their well-site on campus.  For the last few weeks or so that he's been outside, he has voluntarily been working usually an early but sometimes a late shift to avoid the midday heat.  Starting at 5am they try and finish their work outside by noon, or starting at 4pm they work through the night till the guys are done.  In theory this means that we as a family should be seeing more of the Don during the day, but students coming out to MLC who are not used to the heat are often struggling in the mornings, which can mean splitting the shift and coming back again later in the day.  The Holy month of Ramadan is also likely to start on Thursday (depending on the sighting of the new moon) which means that classroom teaching is supposed to finish by 3pm each day, so all in all it will be an interesting coming month...