VZCZCXRO5720
RR RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHMK #0463 1951224
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131224Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAMA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7988
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0240
RHBVAKS/COMUSNAVCENT
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS MANAMA 000463 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR AMBASSADOR ERELI 
STATE FOR DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM ELAB PGOV BA
SUBJECT: GOB ENFORCES SUMMER BAN ON OUTDOOR LABOR 
 
¶1. (U) Forty Ministry of Labor (MOL) inspectors fanned out 
across Bahrain July 1 to begin enforcing the annual ban on 
outdoor work during the hottest hours of the day.  Employers 
can be fined up to USD 795 for each laborer found working 
outside between 1 and 4 p.m.  During their first week, the 
inspectors levied 190 fines. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Hassan Al Aradi (please protect), a workplace safety 
advocate and an officer of the Bahrain Health and Safety 
Society, an NGO, told poloff that unlike many other labor 
regulations in Bahrain, companies take the summer work ban 
seriously.  Al Aradi said that the summer work ban was easier 
to enforce than other safety regulations since inspectors did 
not require significant training.  By comparison, enforcement 
of regulations mandating the implementation of specific 
practices and the use of certain safety equipment required 
well-trained inspectors.  (Note: The 2007 Human Rights Report 
highlighted the lack of trained labor inspectors as an 
obstacle to improved worker safety.  End note.)  According to 
Al Aradi, MOL achieved better than 80 percent compliance with 
the summer work ban in 2007, and its vigorous enforcement 
efforts appear to be continuing into 2008. 
 
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Visit Embassy Manama's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/manama/ 
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HENZEL