Fifth Annual Workers’ Welfare Progress Report
February – December 2019
Contents
1 Glossary of Terms
2 Letter from the Secretary General
4 About the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy
6 About the Workers’ Welfare Department
8 Workers’ Welfare Journey
10 Workers’ Welfare Standards
12 Executive Summary
14 Compliance and Audits
30 Health and Safety
42 Engagement and Outreach
48 Challenges
52 The Way Forward Glossary of Terms
BWI Building and Wood Workers’ International
H&S Health & Safety
HBKU Hamad Bin Khalifa University
HMC Hamad Medical Corporation
IIP Incident Investigation Procedure
ILO International Labour Organization
JWG Joint Working Group
MoADLSA Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs
MoPH Ministry of Public Health
NMHO National Mental Health Office
OCP Other Contracting Party
OHS Occupational Health & Safety
PWWF Project Workers’ Welfare Forums
PWWO Project Workers’ Welfare Officer
QISC Qatar International Safety Centre
QRC Qatar Red Crescent
RIDDOR Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations
SC Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy
SESRI Social and Economic Survey Research Institute
TDO Technical Delivery Office
Tournament FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™
TPP The Phoenix Partnership
WBGT Wet Bulb Globe Temperature
WCM-Q Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
WR Workers’ Representative
WWD Workers’ Welfare Department
WWF Workers’ Welfare Forums
WWO Workers’ Welfare Officer
WWS Workers’ Welfare Standards
1 Letter from the Secretary General Transparency and accountability are vital for ensuring genuine Grievance mechanisms are essential tools for our Sadly, nine non-work related deaths occurred during this progress and development on a matter of such critical workers to express their opinions and issues in a safe reporting period. We investigate each death through our Our legacy importance as Workers’ Welfare. This is the fifth edition of environment, and to know that a system exists where Incident Investigation Procedure (IIP). This procedure the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy’s (SC) Annual those issues are addressed and rectified. They are also identifies factors that contributed to the incident and within the Workers’ Welfare Progress Report. This document is the critical for the SC, as they provide us with a system from provides a guideline for preventative measures that can foundation for our public reporting, standing along with the which we can learn what works and what doesn’t, and be implemented to mitigate against any repeat incident. industry is reports we issue in collaboration with our partner, Building adjust our programme accordingly. Our Workers’ Welfare Any loss of life on our programme is deeply saddening, and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), and those published Forums (WWF) now cover 23,164 SC and 10,140 non-SC and I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families reliant on independently by third-party monitor, Impactt Ltd. Addressing workers. In a similar vein to our recruitment fee initiative, and kin of those who passed away. worker welfare is a multi-stakeholder operation, extending contractors are recognising the benefits in effective and contractors beyond our borders, and we have always appreciated the transparent grievance systems and applying our vision Through our efforts to mandate annual health checks benefit of scrutiny on our efforts to improve lives and better to workers on non-SC projects. The International Labour for every worker employed by any contractors on our understanding industry practice in this sphere. Organization (ILO) and the Ministry of Administrative programme, we are steadfastly committed to reduce and Development, Labour and Social Affairs (MoADLSA) are ultimately eliminate deaths caused by existing medical the benefits of I’m pleased to note some positive trends in this latest report. working with us to study the potential application of conditions or ailments. In previous years, and in particular during the initial periods WWF across the State of Qatar. good practice of our reporting and activity, much of our focus was on the An important development in the upcoming reporting rectification of accommodation conditions and positively On that note, our progress is highly dependent on period is the integration of mental health awareness and and integrating influencing long-standing industry norms that served as our relationships with our stakeholders. Our excellent treatment options. We’ve engaged relevant partners obstacles to the progress we aspired to. cooperation with MoADLSA and ILO has and will in improving accessibility to psychiatric treatment and them into their continue to play an important role in the implementation counselling, and will further develop this with training for normal business This year’s report is a reflection of the maturity of our work. of our programme and ensuring legacies beyond 2022. workers, contractor staff and clinicians in mental health Our robust audit system, combined with rigid enforcement of Our Joint Working Group (JWG) with BWI continues to awareness. We consider this a critical extension of our procedures, with our pre-mobilisation process, have led to better compliance, impact our workers positively, enhancing health and comprehensive health strategy and believe that our and better conditions for our workforce across the board. safety on our sites, and monitoring the WWF elections contractors will understand the importance of this and the SC and their for integrity and effectiveness. Numerous other partner extend it to their workforces beyond their SC contracts. I’m very proud of the continuing development in our entities are contributing to our work, all of which are other clients. collaboration with contractors to remunerate workers who mentioned in the report. In addition to this, the report I wish to conclude this foreword by sincerely thanking have paid illegal recruitment fees in their home countries. contains a special section highlighting a group of local every man and woman engaged on our projects for Ethical recruitment is integrated into our Workers’ Welfare contractors who are successfully applying our vision their contribution towards helping us deliver the Standards (WWS) and contractor compliance is a critical and extending it to workers outside of our projects. first FIFA World Cup 2022™ in the Middle East and element in pre-approval for work with the SC. Our contractors Our legacy within the industry is reliant on contractors the Arab world. I am driven to ensure that a critical are now on course to remunerate 44,900 workers a total of understanding the benefits of good practice and legacy of this tournament will be improved conditions QAR 110 million over a period of 12-36 months. I’m even integrating them into their normal business procedures, for the workforce in our country, and to influence, prouder to note that 18,000 of those 44,900 are non-SC with the SC and their other clients. contribute to, and develop best practice on a global workers, which 11 contractors have applied our initiative to. scale. This challenge will not cease in December 2022. I have consistently maintained that while the progress We will continue to enhance our efforts through hard Our focus on compliance and remuneration also encompasses we’ve made deserves recognition, significant challenges work, grounded in cooperation, transparency, and enforcement of minimum salaries and provision of return air remain, and the journey that we have embarked on accountability. Our commitment is to continuous long- tickets. Combined with our drive on repayment of recruitment will continue long beyond 2022. We will continue to term sustainable progress resulting in better industry fees, this has led to a 15-18% increase in workers’ annual favour an engagement-first approach to provide willing practice, better enforcement and compliance, and compensation. In addition to this, we’ve placed emphasis on contractors the opportunity to improve. However, in ultimately, improving lives. encouraging contractors to provide life insurance cover to cases where engagement clearly isn’t working, we are workers, in order to protect their families. strengthening sanctions for non-compliance to our standards. This is of acute importance as we transition Sincerely, towards the final 18-24 months of competition-specific Hassan Al Thawadi infrastructure construction. 2 3 About the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy
Established in 2011 by the State of Qatar, the SC is responsible for the delivery of the competition venues – the stadiums and training sites. Its goal is to enable Qatar to host an amazing and historic FIFA World Cup 2022™ and to deliver the tournament so that it accelerates progress towards achieving national development goals and creates a lasting legacy for Qatar, the Middle East, Asia and the world.
Together, the stadiums, non-competition venues and wider infrastructure will underpin a compact and connected FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ (the Tournament) with sustainability and accessibility at its heart. And when the Tournament is over, the stadiums and surrounding precincts will become vibrant hubs of community life – an integral part of the legacy we are building.
Working with the Qatar 2022 Local Organising Committee (LOC), the SC is also responsible for FIFA World Cup 2022™ host country planning and operations. Families and groups of fans arriving from around the world will experience a secure, human-centred Tournament that both celebrates and exemplifies the hospitality for which Qatar and the region are known.
Beyond the Tournament itself, the SC is harnessing the power of football to stimulate human, social, economic and environmental development across Qatar, the region and Asia through programmes including Generation Amazing, Challenge 22, Workers’ Welfare, and initiatives such as Community Engagement and the Josoor Institute.
4 5 About the Workers’ Welfare Department
Workers’ welfare has always been at the forefront The WWD dedicates full-time resources to ensuring In addition to regular public reporting on Engagement with the international community of the SC’s work, with dedicated teams working on effective implementation of the WWS across SC achievements and challenges, and in an effort is an important way in which we build and share welfare issues since 2013. The current Workers’ projects. The team has grown proportionally with to maximise transparency, in August 2019 the best practice, and in 2019, the WWD participated Welfare Department (WWD) is housed within the the SC programme, and currently has 25 full-time WWD issued its first SC Workers’ Welfare Monthly in a number of events including the BWI Sports Office of the Secretary General, and has a vision for staff members, excluding five external auditors Newsletter. Campaigning in the 2020s; the Sporting Chance an amazing Tournament that achieves best practice and inspectors; between them a diverse and multi- Forum; ILO Centenary: the Future of Work in Qatar; in workers’ welfare and supports human and social lingual team with expertise ranging from auditing The newsletter highlights key statistics and the United Nations Forum on Business and Human development in Qatar. to industrial psychology. updates regarding the work we are doing, and Rights; and the Doha Forum. serves as a method of continually engaging both internal and external stakeholders. Recipients include government officials, non-government organisations, non-state parties, international organisations and SC project partners. Topics range through initiatives by the WWD, key The WWD is responsible for: legislative reforms, contractor spotlights, recruitment fees reimbursement and key statistics on training, H&S, accommodation and WWF.
Overseeing all workers’ health & safety (H&S) matters across the SC programme
Developing effective compliance and enforcement mechanisms for the WWS
Leading and undertaking audits and inspections of contractors (including worker interviews, accommodation and construction site inspections) and Workers’ Welfare tender evaluations
Delivering engagement, outreach and training, conducting research to guide policy and decision-making, and engaging with internal and external stakeholders
6 7 Workers’ Welfare Journey
2013 February 2014 December 2014 December 2015 February 2016 March 2016