Transcript Unions and new migrants

The implication of migration
for health and safety
Dr Sonia McKay
Background
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Large numbers of migrant workers, notably from A8, dispersing
further across regions of UK
More employers ranging from large national companies to SMEs
taking on diverse workforces
Evolving recruitment routes of temporary workers, in particular
through agencies and labour providers of varying types
Headline incidents such as Morecambe Bay combined with
anecdotal information from HSE inspectors that migrant workers
at risk
However, Issue of measuring impact of work on health more
generally missing
The research
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Two projects
 Migrant workers in England and Wales – an assessment of their health and
safety risks
 One death is too many – Enquiry into fatalities in the construction industry.
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Establish whether there are specific or general risks that affect
migrant workers
Assess whether the situation of migrant workers places them at
increased risk, compared with other workers in similar positions
Examine fatalities in one sector
Definitions and Methodology
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Migrant workers = people who have come to UK with last five
years to find work, whether temporary or permanent, and
irrespective of whether documented or undocumented
Focus on workers in routine manual occupations in six sectors
 Construction; Agriculture; Food processing, packaging and distribution
 Health and social care; Cleaning; Hospitality
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A. Qualitative research - interviews with 200 migrants, 60+
employers, 30+ key respondents from five regions of England
and Wales
B. Analysis of 28 fatalities in a three year period through HFACS
(Human factors analysis and classification system: mapping
predominant causes to direct or underlying organisational, policy
and external ‘levels’ to enable comparison
Health and Safety Statistics
and Reports
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Statutory reporting systems for measuring fatalities, accidents,
injuries and ill health did not include information that allows for
identification of migrants
Available statistics indicate that higher risk to self-employed and
contract workers than direct employees
Comparative analysis with LFS and field experience suggests
that there is considerable under-reporting – as little as only 5%
reported
Migrant Worker Terms and
Conditions
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Typically minimum wage in low skilled jobs with few benefits;
relatively highly educated and skilled for the tasks.
Often working long hours and anti-social shifts, meeting demand
for cheap, flexible labour that the local labour market cannot fill
for various reasons. Some working more than one job.
Many engaged through agencies and labour providers, some
recruited in home countries. Frequent complaints about lack of
information, irregular hours, unclear deductions and other
problems with agencies.
Undocumented workers especially vulnerable to exploitation due
to limited rights and lack of support.
Few members of trade unions or other forms of collective
representation. Many unaware or uncertain of their rights and
the responsibilities of their employers.
Sector Characteristics 1
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Construction: Highly fragmented – many sub-contractors and
large informal sector. Uses mobile ‘self-employed’ workers.
Migrants filling gaps in skilled trades as well as general
labourers.
Food: Production growth and seasonal and promotion orders
from supermarkets have driven demand for flexible workforce on
shift-work. Very low paid for employment in basic operative
tasks.
Agriculture: Overall decline in sector but continued need for
seasonal labour with greater flexibility to meet supplier and
supermarket demands
Sector Characteristics 2
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Cleaning: Service industry with highly competitive contracts and
demand for cheap labour moving between different sites and
working hours outside the normal day.
Care work: NHS and care home demand for nursing and care
staff resulted in direct recruitment from overseas. Private sector
taken on over-qualified nurses for basic care assistant work in
night shifts.
Hospitality: Large amount of temporary, casual and seasonal
work in restaurants and hotels, also large informal economy.
Common Trends in Sectors
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Highly competitive contracting processes
Growth in use of temporary agency workers
Need for flexible/mobile workforce in routine occupations
Anti-social shift patterns
Intersections with informal economy
Unclear lines of responsibility for site conditions
Fatalities study
 In
2007/08 12 migrant/foreign workers
killed in construction, increase from 8
the previous year.
 Is there a greater risk?
 Do the numbers merely reflect higher % of
migrant workers in the sector
 Impact of age –youth/older on fatalities
Findings on H&S
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Around a quarter of the migrant workers had personally
experienced or witnessed an accident at work.
Reported problems included repetitive strain injuries, back
problems, general fatigue and tiredness from anti-social shifts
and long hours, stress caused by managers and co-workers.
Induction training and communication on health and safety was
often limited or even non-existent. Lack of understanding due to
language and/or cultural differences was often not checked for.
Personal protective equipment was sometimes not provided
adequately and/or not used appropriately.
Manual handling equipment and training, rotation of tasks,
provision of occupational health checks was inadequate in some
sites
Widespread lack of knowledge of health and safety and of
workplace rights
Contributing Risk Factors 1
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Jobs generally not more risky as such, but migrant workers
more likely to be in positions where inherent risks.
Relatively short periods of work in the UK contribute to limited
knowledge of the health and safety system and its differences
from workplace practices in home countries
Motivations in coming to the UK, often premised on earning as
much as possible, result in a willingness to take on long hours
and irregular shifts in any available work
Communication difficulties with co-workers and supervisors due
to a lack of English or other common language, leading to lack
of understanding of instructions and potential risks
Inadequate employer procedures for checking on skills and
abilities and ensuring access to and understanding of health and
safety inductions and on-going training
Contributing Risk Factors 2
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Unclear H&S responsibilities and gaps in procedures between
different employers, in particular where temporary agency
workers and/or are nominally self-employed
Lack of knowledge of health and safety rights and absence of
worker representatives, resulting in inability to raise concerns
and fear of negative ramifications from employers
Experiences of discrimination and racism by BAME workers in
particular causing stress – favouritism contributing to greater
exposure to more difficult work conditions
Women with little information or support when pregnant or
looking after children
Undocumented workers vulnerable to exploitation
Concluding Remarks
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Evidence that migrant workers carrying out a lot of the
demanding, dangerous and/or dirty manual work in the UK
Whether patterns of long/irregular hours, anti-social shifts,
workplace stress etc lead to greater H&S risks is still open to
debate – quantitative relationships unproven but qualitative
evidence mounting
Suggestion that accidents and incidents may increase due to
migrant workers, but alternate explanations are that
 Growth of temporary, agency, casual, ‘self-employed’ and other
forms of ‘precarious’ work relationships may complicate
responsibility for H&S
 Decrease in HSE regulatory activities in favour of business support
role may deflect resources and action
Fatalities
 In
2007/08 12 migrant/foreign workers
killed in construction, increase from 8
the previous year.
 Is there a greater risk?
 Do the numbers reflect higher % of
migrant workers in the sector
 Impact of age –youth/older on fatalities