The UAE’s Ministry of Labor’s Workmen’s Compensation Insurance provided to laborers does not cover heat-related illnesses, reports Khaleej Times.

Ali Adnan Farook, property underwriting manager at Oman Insurance Company, said that the Workmen’s Compensation Insurance covers “any sort of work-related injury as a result of an accident, but not sunstroke or hernia due to heat.”

“Under our normal policy, sunstroke and hernia due to heat are usually not covered, they are a standard exclusion. We cover any sort of work-related injury as a result of an accident. Heat-related illnesses are due to circumstances, due to heat, so this falls under the extension (of policy),” he said. If a worker suffers from heat-related illnesses due to their work conditions, “they have to pay from their (own) pocket.”

“Heat stress is not included at all in this part of the world,” he added.