A CALL has gone out for “smart labour inspections” in Bahrain with officers granted more powers to do their jobs effectively.
The inspectors should be empowered “legally and logistically”, said General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) assistant secretary general for occupational health, safety and environment Mohammed Musaed.
He was speaking to the GDN following an International Labour Organisation (ILO) workshop on ‘Modern Labour Inspection Procedures’ held in Manama.
The three-day event, organised by the ILO and its Regional Office for Arab States at Le Meridien, City Centre Bahrain, was attended by union leaders, employers and government officials.
The workshop was organised by ILO consultant Dr Amin Al Wardat and Jordanian lawyer Dr Mohammed Abdulla Thaher.
“The major recommendation and outcome of the workshop was the need to empower labour inspectors with more authority, logistically and by way of training on awareness of the law,” said Mr Musaed.
“Bahrain has a labour inspection system but without empowering the inspectors we cannot get the desired results.
“The world is moving fast with all fields being driven technologically and we are talking of a smart age, and Bahrain is way ahead in this.
“We need inspectors with tools to function with accuracy and speed and we can look to other countries, like the UAE, for experience and expertise.”
The UAE labour ministry introduced a system in 2015 under which labour disputes are divided into five risk categories, helping inspectors focus on the right area.
Mr Humaidan and ILO representatives with workshop participants
The Manama workshop pointed out that the challenges faced by the labour inspectors included a lack of appropriate transportation facilities, decent pay and attractive perks.
These, coupled with an insufficient number of inspectors, were affecting the work, said Mr Muased.
“At the workshop, the labour inspection scene in Bahrain was compared to those in the UAE and Jordan and it was found that though the system was on par there were a number of shortcoming locally.
“We have way fewer inspectors compared to the growing number of worksites, they are using their own cars, they need a hike in pay and they need more encouragement in terms of perks.”
He said such a scenario was ripe for bribery.
However Mr Al Muased said giving inspectors more authority can be done “immediately” and without legal hassles or delays.
“Inspectors should be allowed to testify in the courts, as they are the ones at the scene.
“Many a time we see this power of the inspectors are restricted for various reasons which again is not ideal.”
Dialogue
He pointed out that under the ILO convention ratified by Bahrain a dialogue between the employers, employees and the ministry on all labour-related issues was essential.
He added that the workshop highlighted the need to revise penalties for some violations.
The opening of the session was attended by Labour and Social Development Minister Jameel Humaidan and labour affairs acting assistant under-secretary Ahmed Al Haiki.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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