4,000 injuries among construction workers in Iraq due to scorching heat
A builder drinks water while he works on the construction site of a new school building during sweltering summer heat in Baghdad, Iraq. Photo: Reuters
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – A report issued by Reuters on Tuesday confirmed that the construction sector in Iraq is witnessing relative prosperity driven by high oil prices after decades of conflict, but the scorching summer heat makes work more difficult for hundreds of thousands of people with no laws to protect them under harsh working conditions.
The report mentioned that Iraq lacks such protection laws, as most workers are employed informally, leaving them without any legal guarantees.
Assistant Director of Inspection at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Nasser Hussain, explained that there are no special regulations related to high temperatures, but the law requires employers to ensure the safety of workers in general.
“The ministry has not received any complaints from workers about high temperatures. Perhaps Iraqis got used to high temperatures in a country where 45 degrees Celsius is considered normal in summer,” Hussain said.
Several construction workers in Basra and Baghdad said that they saw some of their colleagues faint on construction sites and even fall from buildings when the temperature rose dramatically, according to Reuters.
While the authorities in Basra ordered public sector employees to stay in their homes recently when temperatures rose to more than 50 degrees Celsius, work continued on the construction site, where work is mandatory, Reuters added.
The representative of the International Labour organization (ILO) in Iraq, Maha Kattaa, said that Iraq recorded around 4,000 work-related injuries in 2022.
Kattaa also expected that these types of heat-related injuries would significantly increase in light of the increase in temperature in Iraq.