Abstract:A greater proportion of migrant workers is exposed to higher risks of occupational safety and health issues than their Korean counterparts, demonstrating that the occupational safety and health of migrant workers requires more attention than that of Korean workers.
“…Compared to non-migrants, migrant workers in these sectors are often assigned the most dangerous tasks and are likely to experience more hazardous work and living conditions whether they are trafficked or not, often leading to higher rates of morbidity and mortality. Research shows that migrant workers have greater risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries compared to native populations, even when performing the same job [3,11,12]. They frequently receive inadequate safety and occupational training and rarely have specialist skills or previous experience [2].…”
BackgroundMen comprise nearly two-thirds of trafficked and forced labourers in common low-skilled labour sectors including fishing, agriculture and factory work. Yet, most evidence on human trafficking has focused on women and girls trafficked for sex work, with scant research on trafficked men and boys.MethodsWe analyse survey data from the largest systematic consecutive sample of trafficked people collected to date to describe the prevalence of violence, occupational health risks and injuries and associated factors. Participants were labour-trafficked men and boys using post-trafficking support services in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.FindingsData are presented on 446 males aged 10–58. Men and boys were mainly trafficked for fishing (61.7%), manufacturing (19.1%) and begging (5.2%). Fishermen worked extensive hours (mean 18.8 hours/day, SD 5.9) and factory workers worked on average 11.9 hours/day (SD 2.9). 35.5% of male survivors had been injured while trafficked; 29.4% received no personal protective equipment (e.g. gloves). The most commonly reported injuries among all males were deep cuts (61.8%) and skin injuries (36.7%), injuries for which fewer than one-quarter reported receiving medical care. Six fishermen lost body parts, none of whom received medical care. Most males (80.5%) had no or very few rest breaks. One-third (37.8%) experienced severe violence. Work-related injuries were associated with severe violence (AOR 3.44, CI:1.63–7.26), being in the fishing sector, (AOR 4.12, CI:2.39–7.09) and threats (AOR 2.77, CI:1.62–4.75). Experiencing any violence was associated with threats (AOR 26.86, CI:14.0–51.23), being in the fishing sector (AOR 18.53, CI:8.74–39.28) and fluency in language of destination country (AOR 0.39, CI:0.20–0.75).ConclusionThis study highlights the abuse and extreme occupational hazards suffered by trafficked men and boys. Occupational health and safety interventions are urgently needed to protect male migrant labourers working in high-risk sectors, particularly fishing.
“…Compared to non-migrants, migrant workers in these sectors are often assigned the most dangerous tasks and are likely to experience more hazardous work and living conditions whether they are trafficked or not, often leading to higher rates of morbidity and mortality. Research shows that migrant workers have greater risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries compared to native populations, even when performing the same job [3,11,12]. They frequently receive inadequate safety and occupational training and rarely have specialist skills or previous experience [2].…”
BackgroundMen comprise nearly two-thirds of trafficked and forced labourers in common low-skilled labour sectors including fishing, agriculture and factory work. Yet, most evidence on human trafficking has focused on women and girls trafficked for sex work, with scant research on trafficked men and boys.MethodsWe analyse survey data from the largest systematic consecutive sample of trafficked people collected to date to describe the prevalence of violence, occupational health risks and injuries and associated factors. Participants were labour-trafficked men and boys using post-trafficking support services in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.FindingsData are presented on 446 males aged 10–58. Men and boys were mainly trafficked for fishing (61.7%), manufacturing (19.1%) and begging (5.2%). Fishermen worked extensive hours (mean 18.8 hours/day, SD 5.9) and factory workers worked on average 11.9 hours/day (SD 2.9). 35.5% of male survivors had been injured while trafficked; 29.4% received no personal protective equipment (e.g. gloves). The most commonly reported injuries among all males were deep cuts (61.8%) and skin injuries (36.7%), injuries for which fewer than one-quarter reported receiving medical care. Six fishermen lost body parts, none of whom received medical care. Most males (80.5%) had no or very few rest breaks. One-third (37.8%) experienced severe violence. Work-related injuries were associated with severe violence (AOR 3.44, CI:1.63–7.26), being in the fishing sector, (AOR 4.12, CI:2.39–7.09) and threats (AOR 2.77, CI:1.62–4.75). Experiencing any violence was associated with threats (AOR 26.86, CI:14.0–51.23), being in the fishing sector (AOR 18.53, CI:8.74–39.28) and fluency in language of destination country (AOR 0.39, CI:0.20–0.75).ConclusionThis study highlights the abuse and extreme occupational hazards suffered by trafficked men and boys. Occupational health and safety interventions are urgently needed to protect male migrant labourers working in high-risk sectors, particularly fishing.
“…Forty‐six articles (43%) discussed health and safety risks and responses in cultural terms, with cultural factors commonly hypothesized to shape the risk of injury or illness . For example, Rosenbaum et al write, in the context of their study showing that upper musculoskeletal injuries are common among immigrant Latino workers, that “Activities outside of the workplace in this culturally and socioeconomically uniform group could be similar and possibly account for the lack of differences in injury rates.” (p232) At other times, culture was said or theorized to influence perceptions or experiences of working conditions and physical and psychosocial hazards:“Among the Chinese workers, many associated this lack of control with showing respect for their clients … Obeying the client's instructions was, therefore, not considered as a lack of control but as part of their cultural norms.” (p479) …”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Frequently, culture was presented as a reason workers fail to challenge hazardous work and to report or seek care for health conditions . A few noted the need to research the role of culture in influencing health and safety behaviors or perceptions . In addition, 24 articles (22%) discussed acculturation, mostly in terms of health and safety risks and responses.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…), however by and large culture was not broken down into its various components, and when further defined it typically referred to such broad factors as traditions, family systems, or communication styles. Culture was also grouped with language in statements in about one‐third of the articles sampled (33), such as in the following quotation:“We presume that a lack of safety training, inadequate safety equipment, economic pressure to continue working, and language and cultural differences may also have contributed to the increased occupational health and safety risks of migrant workers in Korea, which should be investigated in further research.” (p1051) …”
Background
Health and safety researchers and practitioners have proposed that cultural differences help explain inequalities between foreign and native‐born workers. While cultural explanations for inequalities have long been debated in other fields, there exists little critique of cultural discourses in occupational health.
Methods
This article examines and discusses the discourse on culture in 107 articles on immigrant or migrant workers’ health published between 2011 and 2015. For each article, passages on culture were identified and analysed for both the context and the manner in which culture was discussed.
Results
The discourse on culture was found to be generally simplistic, individualistic, and uncritical, intentionally or unintentionally supporting the worldview that workers’ “otherness” is both cause of inequalities and target for interventions.
Conclusion
The article argues that empirical, theoretical and interdisciplinary work is needed to document the mechanisms and pathways that underlie health and safety inequalities by foreign‐born status.
“…Employees with not sufficient language skills are exposed to a higher risk of work or fatal injuries. It is evident for example from work by [Cha 2014]. A language problem or a language barrier are mentioned also in others works [Ismail 2014;Paul 2013;Guldenmund 2013].…”
The increasing need for a labour in the Czech Republic and other countries of Central Europe will lead to employing of foreigner workers. It is possible to assume that foreigners will be employed in positions, where the chosen decision can result in major accidents with fatal injuries followed by environmental or a property damage. These actors include operators in chemical or power plants, etc. As can be seen from foreign experience, poorly understood information leads to wrong decision-making process of operator resulting in accidents. The aim of this work is to map the situation in countries with traditionally large share of working foreigners (for example UK, France, Germany, etc.) and to identify the ways for prevention of these types of accidents. Subsequently, to create the set of recommendations for companies, which desire to employ foreign workers.
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