Migrant workers health and Safety
A project is on the horizon for the UK with regards to migrant workers. It seems there is an increased number of deaths and injuries among migrant workers in the construction industry. A study was carried out by the HSE wherein numerous health and safety audits were conducted. The study looked at the number of migrant workers killed or injured on the job against native UK workers. It was found that migrant workers were more likely to be injured or killed on the job.
About 6% of construction workers are migrants, meaning that there are about 2.3 million workers. The health and safety breaches these individuals suffer are 17% more than deaths or injuries of native workers. About 25 migrant workers were killed during the three year period between 2005 and 2008 in the construction industry. This makes one think about the safety and health regulations employed.
It is not that there are no safety and health regulations at the workplace on construction sites. If improper training and lax regulations were the issue then there would still be a fairly high amount of deaths or injuries of UK native workers. It is rather the signage and training these workers have available to them is not in their native language.
In other words, English is the language used on sites, but those who lack understanding of English can misunderstand and get into more dangerous situations. Migrant workers also need to undergo the same training as UK workers so that they understand UK health and safety.
