Heat protections for migrant workers falling short in Gulf states: HRW

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are exposing migrant workers to yet another deadly summer without adequate occupational health and safety protections as temperatures soar to dangerous levels, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

Migrant workers, particularly outdoor workers, are left to fend for themselves as they balance the pressures of extreme heat and physically taxing work, and relentless demands from their employers, HRW said in a report.

“The heat is so intense that it is beyond the endurance of an ordinary person,” one worker said.

“Despite a wealth of evidence on both global temperature increases and the severe health risks extreme heat exposure poses, Gulf states are dragging their feet on adopting adequate protections,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.

“Gulf states have the means and capacity to adopt these protections, including restricting working hours based on actual temperature thresholds rather than fixed schedules.”

Between February and May 2026, Human Rights Watch spoke to 20 migrant workers from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan working in construction and app-based bike delivery about heat and occupational health and safety issues in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Human Rights Watch has interviewed outdoor workers to better understand extreme heat risks.

June marks the start of the enforcement period of midday work bans in several Gulf states, their sole heat exposure protection measure, which prohibits outdoor work during certain hours in summer months.

These bans generally apply from June through August or September and restrict outdoor work between late morning and mid-afternoon.

However, there is growing scientific evidence on the limitations of calendar- and time-based bans to shield workers from heat-related health risks.

A UAE-based road construction worker described the heat as “unbearable” and recalled working outdoors when temperatures reached 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

“During summer, it becomes difficult to work by 7:30 or 8:00am, but we have to work until 11:30am no matter what. That is the most difficult time.”

He said migrant workers in Gulf states have to mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming summer, thinking, “How will we get through this year?”

Exposure to extreme heat can cause fatal heat stroke, exacerbate pre-existing conditions, impair cognitive function, and increase the risk of workplace injuries. It can also cause lasting health harm, including kidney failure, and even premature death.

A UAE-based worker said, “Sometimes we hear news that someone in another company collapsed from the heat and died. When we hear that, we get goose bumps. We think, ‘Maybe tomorrow it will be our turn. We are also working in the same heat.’”

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report establishes that heat extremes have increased across the Arabian Peninsula, with human-induced climate change having a contributing role.

World Weather Attribution's 2024 study of the West Asian heat wave found that human-induced climate change made the event roughly five times more likely and about 1.7 degrees Celsius more intense than it would have been in a world without fossil-fuel warming.

According to a rapid World Weather Attribution study, climate change is making the Hajj pilgrimage for Muslims to Mecca dangerously hot earlier in the year compared to the past, with temperatures that were confined to peak summer months June-August now occurring in May or even earlier.

Human Rights Watch spoke to six app-based, or so-called platform, bike delivery workers who described a lack of cool or shaded rest areas, poor visibility under intense sunlight, heat distorting their vision, the overheating of devices required for their jobs, and direct health impacts such as sunburns and heat-related illness, including dizziness and fainting, as common.

They also described pressures from platform companies, including time-sensitive deliveries and fear of losing income or losing their jobs, making it difficult to refuse orders even when conditions were unhealthy or unsafe.

“If an order comes, you have to deliver it even if it is hot or rains,” said a UAE-based worker. Some pickup locations provided rest areas and cool water, some companies provided rest areas such as air-conditioned buses, and others were able to adjust their schedules to include cooler night hours.

“During the very hot three months, in some places, every 15-20 kilometres, there were buses with AC arranged for rest for bike delivery riders,” one worker said. “Water was also available there. If the heat was too much, we could rest there … but those were only in limited places.”

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Some GCC countries, such as Kuwait and Qatar, have explicitly banned bike deliveries during summer midday ban hours. The UAE has mandated rest and cooling stations for bike delivery riders and announced the recent expansion of these rest areas.

Gulf states should adopt evidence-based occupational heat protection measures, such as the widely used Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index, which measures occupational heat stress based on air temperature and relative humidity. These measures should include evidence-based work-rest schedules guided by real-time WBGT thresholds and work intensity, as well as access to cool water and cool, shaded rest areas, to prevent heat-related illness and death among outdoor workers.

Only Qatar, in 2021, has introduced the index with an upper WBGT threshold of 32.1 degrees Celsius (89.78 degrees Fahrenheit) to stop outdoor work, but the threshold is too high and enforcement gaps remain.

“When we sweat a lot, the body becomes extremely weak,” one worker said. “But because of company pressure, we continue working. The mind says, ‘I can do it,’ but the body does not support us … Every season, someone collapses.”

There are also significant variations in the occupational health and safety measures provided by private employers. “If anything happens at the site, medical facilities are available immediately,” one worker said. “On large sites, doctors are stationed. Good companies provide all facilities. In smaller companies, however, such facilities do not exist.”

Another worker said, “Some sites provide cool water, others don’t. To stay hydrated, you need to use the toilets frequently. But many construction sites did not have proper toilet provisions.”

A Qatar-based masonry helper said: “We would feel dizzy when working in the heat. We would rest for 5 to 10 minutes after which the foreman would again call us to work. If we laid down, he would immediately shout telling us to get up and work.”

The rest area at his construction site did not have air conditioning or refrigeration for workers’ food. “Sometimes, the food would smell bad and we had to throw it away.”

The lack of strong evidence-based policies to prevent dangerous heat exposure and inadequate oversight from authorities has turned heat protections into a game of chance, Human Rights Watch said, as workers’ health and safety in extreme temperatures often depends on the mercy of supervisors and employers.

The recent Human Rights Watch report on platform work found that gig workers often face dangerous working conditions, including extreme heat, with little protection when they are injured or unable to work.

A new International Labour Organisation treaty, adopted on 12 June, sets labour standards for gig work and includes a section on occupational safety and health. It requires governments to take adequate preventive measures to prevent occupational accidents, occupational diseases, and other risks to gig workers’ health.

Governments should promptly ratify the convention and implement it in domestic law, including measures to adequately address extreme heat risks, Human Rights Watch said.

“Rising global temperatures are making existing extreme summer heat in the Gulf more dangerous, especially for the millions of migrant workers who work outdoors without adequate rest and hydration,” Page said. “Gulf states should guarantee safety and health protections to all workers.”