NIHR commends Minister of Health’s Resolution on Labour Accommodation Requirements
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The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) commends the resolution of His Excellency the Minister of Health regarding the health requirements and specifications for labour accommodation, which guarantee workers’ enjoyment of their rights, especially the right to an adequate standard of living and the right to health. The resolution obliges employers to fulfill several requirements for workers to access their rights, including determining the number of workers in a room, the size of a room, the quality of the floor, walls, doors and windows and the ventilation and lighting system, in addition to the importance of providing rooms with sleeping facilities such as beds, sheets and cabinets and determining the distances between beds and the maximum number of people in each room. The resolution also touched on the importance of providing adequate and sufficient air-moderating devices, a safe potable water dispenser, specifications, size and location of toilets, liquid hand soap, disinfectants and detergents necessary to disinfect and clean sanitary facilities, an adequate and appropriate number of garbage storage containers, valid means for fire-fighting certified by the Civil Defense Department, the necessary means for disposal of housing and sanitation waste, a first-aid box commensurate with the number of workers in a room, a suitable kitchen for the number of residents registered in a room, a place to eat, and washing machines in an appropriate place. The resolution also pointed out that employers should conduct periodic maintenance of the residence and make the urgent and necessary repairs to keep it fit for use and to be in compliance with the health requirements and specifications stipulated in the resolution, including connections, extensions and electrical boxes, taking into account the security and safety requirements.
The NIHR highly appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Bahrain to pay attention to expatriate workers and ensure their access to their rights, stating that this resolution is in line with the precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom of Bahrain to limit the outbreak of the Coronavirus (Covid-19), seeking to protect the worker's right to health.
Based upon the tasks and powers of the NIHR in following up the human rights situation based on its Establishment Law, the NIHR will work to monitor and follow up employers’ implementation of this resolution by conducting declared and undeclared field visits to the residence of foreign workers, closely reviewing the extent of compliance with the requirements contained in the resolution, preparing appropriate reports in this regard, submitting such reports to the competent authorities and examining complaints received by it on this issue.
The NIHR states that it deals firmly with any human rights violations or infringements in accordance with the terms of reference assigned to it as per its Establishment Law, in a manner consistent with the obligations of the Kingdom of Bahrain resulting from its accession or ratification of the relevant agreements.
