Dear Fellow Professionals
Plying between Sharjah and Dubai (Jebel Ali) specially on Emirates Road and Jebel Ali Lehbab Road - Most of the Buses carry Labour work force between 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Each bus will have Company Names who are major players in construction industry.
I often think when they take so much pride in putting their company logo and company Name on the vehicle with such a pride as an announcement. Why dont they install A/c's in these buses. I see this valued workforce majority of them looking out of the windows with their exhausted and pale faces eyeing evey view what ever they can capture in that journey of one and a half or two hours till their camp.
Especailly when the coming months will take its toll and the mercury rising higher and higher, will these folks will be plying in the similar manner ?
Arent the HR Dept responsible for this segment of the workforce ? Doesnt this come under employee welfare / welness. Or still A/c's are considered as a Luxury and not a necessity.
Any comments :?:
Sajid Rasheed
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
33Plying between Sharjah and Dubai (Jebel Ali) specially on Emirates Road and Jebel Ali Lehbab Road - Most of the Buses carry Labour work force between 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm. Each bus will have Company Names who are major players in construction industry.
I often think when they take so much pride in putting their company logo and company Name on the vehicle with such a pride as an announcement. Why dont they install A/c's in these buses. I see this valued workforce majority of them looking out of the windows with their exhausted and pale faces eyeing evey view what ever they can capture in that journey of one and a half or two hours till their camp.
Especailly when the coming months will take its toll and the mercury rising higher and higher, will these folks will be plying in the similar manner ?
Arent the HR Dept responsible for this segment of the workforce ? Doesnt this come under employee welfare / welness. Or still A/c's are considered as a Luxury and not a necessity.
Any comments :?:
Sajid Rasheed
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Hi Sajid,
Perfectly valid question and I agree with you. Is there a link between Construction company office/HR and the actual workers on the site, except for giving them pay?
I think the issue that you have raised will be addressed only when that vital link is very strong. This is just an 'outsider' opinion.
Geetha
From India, Coimbatore
Perfectly valid question and I agree with you. Is there a link between Construction company office/HR and the actual workers on the site, except for giving them pay?
I think the issue that you have raised will be addressed only when that vital link is very strong. This is just an 'outsider' opinion.
Geetha
From India, Coimbatore
Sajid,
This is one issue which has come up in news columns here recently. There are several anomalies happening related to the facilities provided to the labour class. However, the time has changed and the work environment is changing along with the hot summer. In one way, when you see them going back home in a non-a/c bus - it looks ok for me as first of all a/c cooling may not be sufficient to cater 40 or 50 passengers in those old buses. Second, most of them are working in the hot and humid external environment. If they travel suddenly in a/c bus - it will have diverse effecte for many of them. More than the buses, there are several other pressing issues that needs to be addressed - like providing basic facilities, payment of salrary at the right time, camp facilities, food, and finally basic uniform and protective clothing according to the nature of work. How often do you see these items are taken care?
In one way, after the newly laid control measures by our government the flow of labourers to Middle East have reduced considerably. It is the responsibilty of the key HR/ADMIN staff to take care of them, meet their basic requirements, monitor financial activities, control debt/cash/salary handling measures etc to cut down the calamities happening due to these reasons.
Thank you for bring this topic on board.
Regards,
Ramesh Menon
From United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
This is one issue which has come up in news columns here recently. There are several anomalies happening related to the facilities provided to the labour class. However, the time has changed and the work environment is changing along with the hot summer. In one way, when you see them going back home in a non-a/c bus - it looks ok for me as first of all a/c cooling may not be sufficient to cater 40 or 50 passengers in those old buses. Second, most of them are working in the hot and humid external environment. If they travel suddenly in a/c bus - it will have diverse effecte for many of them. More than the buses, there are several other pressing issues that needs to be addressed - like providing basic facilities, payment of salrary at the right time, camp facilities, food, and finally basic uniform and protective clothing according to the nature of work. How often do you see these items are taken care?
In one way, after the newly laid control measures by our government the flow of labourers to Middle East have reduced considerably. It is the responsibilty of the key HR/ADMIN staff to take care of them, meet their basic requirements, monitor financial activities, control debt/cash/salary handling measures etc to cut down the calamities happening due to these reasons.
Thank you for bring this topic on board.
Regards,
Ramesh Menon
From United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
please have some words on Task specialization i need to write assiegment so i need for ths
From United Kingdom
From United Kingdom
You need to write an assignment? Then put some effort.
www.google.com
I am sure you will get it.
Appreciate to make sure the thread which you are posting or contents in it before you post in order to avoid inconvenience.
Dear Akbar,
In red above was an instantaneous reply after seeing your above post in between a discussion. From what I understand you are a student who is in need of assistance to complete an assignment on the above topic. Now, do you want to degrade your studies and subject by mixing it in between a topic under discussion. Post it as a separate thread and it will be noticed by many readers who may be interested in the same subject. Also, make an effort to do a spell check before you post. You are supposed to be an HR Professional of tomorrow.
All the best,
Ramesh Menon
From United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
www.google.com
I am sure you will get it.
Appreciate to make sure the thread which you are posting or contents in it before you post in order to avoid inconvenience.
Dear Akbar,
In red above was an instantaneous reply after seeing your above post in between a discussion. From what I understand you are a student who is in need of assistance to complete an assignment on the above topic. Now, do you want to degrade your studies and subject by mixing it in between a topic under discussion. Post it as a separate thread and it will be noticed by many readers who may be interested in the same subject. Also, make an effort to do a spell check before you post. You are supposed to be an HR Professional of tomorrow.
All the best,
Ramesh Menon
From United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
hi,
ive noticed this too while travelling from jebel ali. ramesh has brought up some valid points...
i've come across instances, where the final decision rests with the management or board of directors. many a time it gets fizzled out once it has reached that stage. the HR makes a proposal, gets all the data,makes a survey and then when we bring this out to the managemnt they come up with rising costs and extra expenditure and so on and so forth...
it gets pretty annoying and then the workers think that ur not doing anything for them. its like u have to maintain a balance between the mgmt and the laboureers...as far as i see its more towards the mgmt and less to the employees....
with the govt bringing in various rules that are becoming favourable to the workers i'm a bit positive that in time to come workers too might get some releive in some form or the other....
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
ive noticed this too while travelling from jebel ali. ramesh has brought up some valid points...
i've come across instances, where the final decision rests with the management or board of directors. many a time it gets fizzled out once it has reached that stage. the HR makes a proposal, gets all the data,makes a survey and then when we bring this out to the managemnt they come up with rising costs and extra expenditure and so on and so forth...
it gets pretty annoying and then the workers think that ur not doing anything for them. its like u have to maintain a balance between the mgmt and the laboureers...as far as i see its more towards the mgmt and less to the employees....
with the govt bringing in various rules that are becoming favourable to the workers i'm a bit positive that in time to come workers too might get some releive in some form or the other....
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Hi friends,
Thanks for this useful post because it should generate a healthy and useful discussion which can and should concern all HR professionals. There is a tendency to treat labour force in a degrading way specially when labour migrate from one country to another, when contractors or company know that they are unorganised or labour do not have any option to go and supply is abundant. That is the role of HR to look beyond the balance sheet and convince the management that labour has to be kept happy and healthy for long term benefit of the company. I feel HR has got more responsibility towards labour force than towards the management . In fact they must enjoy that much trust of all the employees that requirement of union is not felt. Ethical standards of HR professionals must be as high as those of top grade doctors. In this particular case there is a definite requirement to make labour comfortable by providing air conditioned buses, it will really increase their output and develop their loyalty towards the company.Thanks for the post.
Col Virendra
Thanks for this useful post because it should generate a healthy and useful discussion which can and should concern all HR professionals. There is a tendency to treat labour force in a degrading way specially when labour migrate from one country to another, when contractors or company know that they are unorganised or labour do not have any option to go and supply is abundant. That is the role of HR to look beyond the balance sheet and convince the management that labour has to be kept happy and healthy for long term benefit of the company. I feel HR has got more responsibility towards labour force than towards the management . In fact they must enjoy that much trust of all the employees that requirement of union is not felt. Ethical standards of HR professionals must be as high as those of top grade doctors. In this particular case there is a definite requirement to make labour comfortable by providing air conditioned buses, it will really increase their output and develop their loyalty towards the company.Thanks for the post.
Col Virendra
Dear Col Virendra,
The problem here does not end with providing an air-conditioned transport to the the camp from work site to where these workers stay. Imagine a worker working on site from 5:00 or 6:00 am early morning (to compensate the noon break which is very strict now) and then taking forced rest near to the work site (again in shades, partial shades or even hot sun) for almost 3-4 hours and then working till 6 pm or 7 pm. Do you think a 20 0r 30 minutes in a/c bus ride will give him relief. I am pretty sure, it will do only adverse effect to his body which is exposed to 50+ degree sun during the whole day. I would like to see HR interfering in more pressing matters as prompt payment of salary, control of monetary dealings, interference of sundry loan agents in the camps, influence of Kuri or minor loan by private parties in the camps for heavy interest, availability of illicit alcohol etc in the camps. These are some of the items which I am sure happening around.
Other factor is awareness of safety issues. Many times, due to traffic congestion or other reasons, the buses plying between one sight to another, one camp to site, are required to be driven at maximum speed by it's drivers. A closer look at the Emirates Road accident history will prove this statement or a drive through this road during the early morning hours will make you believe this. I have seen as early as 6:00 am with even less than 20m visibility, drivers of mini bus and 45 seaters driving at speeds beyond 120 kms. They are familiar with the route because of their daily runs and so leave it to their destiny and push the pedals. It is therefore a major factor for HR department of these construction companies, and duty of the Admin / Transport co-ordinator to control the driving habits, ease the pressures on these poor drivers and teach them to follow the rules. It is for the safety of the workers whom they are carrying to reach work/home safely.
It will also be a good idea to put the mobile numbers of the transport co-ordinators on these buses/vehicles so as to inform the public/drivers following these vehicle if they are driving dangerously to inform the company/co-ordinator.
There are several other factors. But the government is slowly watching and controlling these issues and as duty abiding expatriates, we have to remain within the limits of the laws of this country.
It doesn't mean HR department of these companies do not have any responsibilities for the safety / well being of it's employees.
Sincere regards,
Ramesh Menon
From United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
The problem here does not end with providing an air-conditioned transport to the the camp from work site to where these workers stay. Imagine a worker working on site from 5:00 or 6:00 am early morning (to compensate the noon break which is very strict now) and then taking forced rest near to the work site (again in shades, partial shades or even hot sun) for almost 3-4 hours and then working till 6 pm or 7 pm. Do you think a 20 0r 30 minutes in a/c bus ride will give him relief. I am pretty sure, it will do only adverse effect to his body which is exposed to 50+ degree sun during the whole day. I would like to see HR interfering in more pressing matters as prompt payment of salary, control of monetary dealings, interference of sundry loan agents in the camps, influence of Kuri or minor loan by private parties in the camps for heavy interest, availability of illicit alcohol etc in the camps. These are some of the items which I am sure happening around.
Other factor is awareness of safety issues. Many times, due to traffic congestion or other reasons, the buses plying between one sight to another, one camp to site, are required to be driven at maximum speed by it's drivers. A closer look at the Emirates Road accident history will prove this statement or a drive through this road during the early morning hours will make you believe this. I have seen as early as 6:00 am with even less than 20m visibility, drivers of mini bus and 45 seaters driving at speeds beyond 120 kms. They are familiar with the route because of their daily runs and so leave it to their destiny and push the pedals. It is therefore a major factor for HR department of these construction companies, and duty of the Admin / Transport co-ordinator to control the driving habits, ease the pressures on these poor drivers and teach them to follow the rules. It is for the safety of the workers whom they are carrying to reach work/home safely.
It will also be a good idea to put the mobile numbers of the transport co-ordinators on these buses/vehicles so as to inform the public/drivers following these vehicle if they are driving dangerously to inform the company/co-ordinator.
There are several other factors. But the government is slowly watching and controlling these issues and as duty abiding expatriates, we have to remain within the limits of the laws of this country.
It doesn't mean HR department of these companies do not have any responsibilities for the safety / well being of it's employees.
Sincere regards,
Ramesh Menon
From United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
August 2008, peak summers in Gulf. I thought maybe during peak summers these busses will have A/Cs.............but alas !!......it was just a thought. Practically I still see the same buses and on the same route plying in same manner.
Wish, one day we could really give HR its real meaning.
Thanks Guys for your responses. It was superb.
Cheers
Sajid
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
Wish, one day we could really give HR its real meaning.
Thanks Guys for your responses. It was superb.
Cheers
Sajid
From United Arab Emirates, Dubai
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