Govt launches campaigns for women workers’ safety

The Ministry of Labor and Social Development initiated a series of campaigns to raise awareness about safety and health among workers in industrial plants, especially those employing women.
Under the program, the ministry concentrated on industrial units in Riyadh and held campaigns in several factories operating in the areas of food, electrical appliances and other manufacturing sectors.
The undersecretary at the ministry, Mohammed Al-Falih, said the government is seeking cooperation of the private sector enterprises to carry out these campaigns to ensure a safe, hazard-free environment in these manufacturing facilities.
Al-Falih said the campaigns also aim at defining the departments where women can work and to inform sponsors about the requirements needed to employ women in industrial units, while informing them of the positive practices in such facilities to improve the performance of women working in factories and contribute to these manufacturing units’ continuity and stability.
The campaigns also aim to make the work environment attractive for women and inform the private sector of women’s rights and privileges under Saudi legislation. In an earlier announcement, the ministry said it encourages women to work in the private sector and will ensure that their working environment is safe, thus enabling them to carry out their jobs with the necessary privacy and professionalism.
The ministry said it will conduct intensive inspections to monitor violations and impose punishments on violators who fail to follow regulations and requirements.
Abdul Moneim Al-Shehri, assistant undersecretary for private programs, said the ministry prepared a package of requirements and mechanisms that will guarantee full privacy for women working in private sector companies. He said the ministry cooperated with investors and owners of shopping centers Kingdom-wide to secure appropriate work environments for women.
He also stressed that the ministry will protect Saudi women workers from unfair competition from foreign women workers.
In areas selling women’s apparel within multi-section shopping centers, the regulations for women’s lingerie shops apply. The same regulation applies in sections that employ five male or female workers, or fewer, in one shift and sell, as part of their goods, women wear. Thus, owners of such businesses must either employ Saudi women in the entire section or not sell women wear, said Al-Shehri adding that employers must ensure separation of the section(s) where women are working from others.