Page 434 - Records of Bahrain (7) (ii)_Neat

824 Records oj Bahrain
CONFIDENTIAL
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Ramadhan whioh fell soon after that date,
I deelgned the form of tho Weekly Reports for Inepootoro
and tho typo of special report form to ho used for complaints
and accidents. Although tho Weekly Report form hue been taken
into uoo, the other opooial forms flo far have not. A filing
oyotem was started and the number of employers on tho rogistor
has gradually been building up sinoo the inopeotion work atartod.

It has been noticed that many aooidonto whioh are reportable
(undor the Labour Ordinanoo an aooidont must bo reported if the
worker is away, for more than 7 days) havo not been reported, It
aloo soon booamo apparent that many employed pereono woro working
very long hours.without, in many oases, any weekly rest days,
public or even annual holidays and without x'eoeiving overtime
rates of pay. This state of affairs has been particularly
noticeable in the building trado. potrol servioe stations, ooffee
ohopo and restaurants and, to a lesser extent in tho concrete
block making faotorios. Weekly working of 70 to 90 hours has
been oopnon and this fact has entailed much work in explaining
all tho requirements of the law to employers. Illegal employ­
ment has boon so general and so many of the leading merchants
have been involvod that it has been clearly impossible and in
fact undesirable that legal proceedings ohould be considered to* *
correct this state of affairs. But strong letters wore sont in
i muny cases and thoBo. oombined with a tactful explanation and
advice on legal requirements appears to be having its offcot.
No oase has yet been heard in court for non-compliance with
the Ordinances. I believe before my arrival, some 1* or 5 oaBes
Y/ent as far as the Bahrain Court, but they were on each oooaaion
settled outoide the court. There remains, however, tho unsettl­
ing question of what action would bo tuken if enforcement become
imperative against a really determined offender, In this
connection I must make it quite clear that neither I in my
pooition as adviser to the Commissioner nor my Inspectors can do.
more than advise that in serious cases legal proceedings should
be taken. Nobody from tho Labour Department, other than the
Commissioner. Shaikh All bin Ahmed A1 Khalifuh, who is himself
a Judge of tho Bahrain Court, has over been to the court to
listen or hear uny cases and there appouro to bo a prejudice
against allowing anyone to have such an experience. Tho Labour
Ordinance gives no powers to any of its appointed officials to
conduct a oase in Court. This, I feol, may prove one of the
greatest barriers ultimately to effective administration of tho
Ordinances, because virtually all the work has to be done by
persuasion and veiled throats of more seriouo aotion carry very
little weight.
Inspection of building operations, of whioh there are many,
has shown that by any standards in the United Kingdom, safety is
a subject in Bahrain whioh has received no consideration at all.
Conditions generally are astonishingly dangorouo and aooidonto
are amazingly few. The only reason I can give for this state
of affairs is that the employees have never known anything better
and are very cat-like and dexterous in their movements. I am
also doubtful whether more than hulf of the aooidentB are ut
preoent being reported. Even, however, if ull were reported,
the total would be very small in view of the building work in
progress. Tubular scaffolding is almost unknown except on a
very few contracts which are being undertaken by the large
contractors. The alternative for tubular soaffolding iB usually
a maze of odd and rough pieces of timber profusely nailed

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