Press release
15 September 2023The audit report mentions good practices and positive results, and suggests some additional areas for improvement. The QDVC Workers’ Welfare Committee elections were recognized as fair and open.
The global union federation BWI (Building and Wood Workers’ International) conducted the first on-site audit of the operations of QDVC (a Qatari company owned by Qatari Diar Real Estate Investments Company and VINCI Construction Grands Projets) in Qatar on 8 and 9 January 2019, accompanied by French trade union representatives (CGT, CFDT and CFE/CGC) from VINCI. This joint audit followed the agreement on workers’ rights signed in 2017 between BWI, VINCI and QDVC at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) headquarters in Geneva. The audit was conducted at QDVC’s main project, the Lusail Light Railway Transit System (LRT), and at the workers’ accommodation.
- It included interviews with workers on site, workers’ representatives and safety champions without management supervision;
- On the second day, the ILO Project Office in Qatar and the Qatari Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs (ADLSA) took part in a presentation of the ongoing pilot project between QDVC, the ILO and ADLASA, which aims to ensure the fair recruitment of workers hired in Bangladesh for Qatar by QDVC’s recruitment and placement agencies.
- the Incident and Injury Free (IIF) safety programme;
- the “buddy peer-support program” to prevent psycho-social risks;
- the grievance mechanisms for employees and subcontractors.
- providing WWC representatives with more time off to consult with other workers;
- introducing better integration of the existing grievance mechanism and the WWC;
- encouraging more detailed analysis of non-work-related accidents.