Qatar construction firms convicted of manslaughter, negligence in deaths
Doha’s criminal court has ordered fines and compensation payments totalling more than QR1 million in recent weeks following at least five separate trials involving construction worker deaths in Qatar.
Three of the men died after falling from scaffolding or, in one case, a pit at an under-construction shopping center.
While it’s unclear if the cluster of cases is indicative of more stringent enforcement efforts or merely a coincidence owing to court scheduling, human rights activists say they hope the sanctions will prompt other construction companies to take workplace safety more seriously.
