Qatar Steel holds itself responsible for the living accommodations of its employees and their families. We strive to provide our people with quality living facilities, including access to club memberships and entertainment activities. Bachelor accommodation is also offered, with several recreational facilities for basketball, football, and cricket. We also offer a gym, a reading room, and areas for indoor recreational activities, such as table tennis and snooker.
Qatar Steel complies with all laws and regulations concerning the labour and living conditions of its employees. Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct treats ‘fairness’ with great weight, citing our consistent standards of equal treatment of individuals. We have controls in place to manage our compliance with all labour standards – child or compulsory labour is strictly prohibited, and no cases of either have been reported during our company’s operations. Similarly, we received no reports of discrimination from any employee or stakeholder in 2014.
Further, in line with best practices, in 2014 we reduced working hours from 8.5 to 8 hours of work per day for all employees.
Screening Our Manpower Contractors
We appreciate that our responsibility toward our supply chain goes beyond purchasing and transactions. In 2014,as part of our new pre-qualification system, we began careful screening of our contractors. Qatar Steel obtained applications from approximately 150 potential suppliers. We started on-site evaluations in March 2015, with 2 contractors to be visited each week.
As mandated by this new system, all manpower contractors are required to complete a pre-qualification application, in which the contractor must disclose technical information. This information includes how closely employee living arrangements follow proper HSE procedures and the degree to which employees are provided with hygienic and comfortable accommodation.
Following this application, Qatar Steel sends representatives to conduct on-site visits to the camps of shortlisted contractors, those who at least fulfil government employee living standards. On-site evaluations involve benchmarking contractors on the decency and legal compliance of living conditions, as well as on health and safety performance.
