Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, which is responsible for delivering the stadia and infrastructure for football’s Fifa World Cup in 2022, has begun carrying out venue inspections in conjunction with Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI).
The Supreme Committee last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BWI, a global trade union for construction workers, to carry out labour and accommodation checks at stadium projects.
There have been widespread concerns surrounding working conditions at World Cup venues in Qatar and the Supreme Committee and BWI have now started to carry out the on-site inspections.
BWI representatives from the UK and Finland travelled to Doha to undertake the first of several joint inspections planned this year. The first inspections cover projects covered by multinational companies headquartered in countries where workers are represented by BWI member trade unions. The companies that currently fall under the agreement are from Austria, Belgium, Italy, India and Cyprus.
A joint working group has been formed to carry out the inspections and reporting process. The visit began on February 1 at Al Wakrah Stadium, with BWI staff having been granted access to the site to speak to workers about their conditions, treatment and accommodation facilities.
The joint inspections followed the death of a worker at Khalifa International Stadium last month, and the BWI delegation took the opportunity to discuss the fatality and the subsequent investigation while in Doha.
The Al Wakrah Stadium was also the site of the death of a worker last October, and the BWI delegation was able to review the corrective measures that have been put in place to prevent similar incidents.
Supreme Committee secretary general Hassan Al Thawadi said: “This agreement with BWI highlights our commitment to ensuring the highest levels of workers’ welfare standards and compliance across all of our sites. We have always been open, transparent, and committed to working together with well-respected international partners who share our vision of achieving sustainable change in this area.
“The initial feedback from BWI has been constructive and demonstrates the value of entering into this agreement. The joint working group will now study the outcomes of these inspections and a report will be published in due course.”
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