Occupational safety in a globalized construction industry: a study on Polish workers in Norway*

Abstract

Polish workers are the largest group of migrant workers in Norway and are particularly well represented in the construction industry. According to several studies, migrant workers are more prone to occupational accidents than native workers are. This difference is often attributed to poor communication and lack of linguistic skills. We explored factors affecting occupational safety related to migrant workers with an emphasis on communication, culture and language through interviews with Polish and Norwegian workers. The study shows that the construction industry in Norway mainly focuses on language as an issue. Culture is seen as a contributing factor, but is somewhat neglected. Fewer measures to cope with challenges related to migrant workers were found for cultural issues as compared to linguistic. However, the study shows that cultural aspects are at least as important. This gives implications for safety management in the construction industry. This paper suggests considering cultural aspects more in safety management related to migrant workers to achieve the desired safety focus at construction sites.

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Factors Influencing the Health and Safety of Temporary Foreign Workers in Skilled and Low-Skilled Occupations in Canada

“…A study of Polish construction workers in Norway found that the construction culture in Poland differed from the construction culture in Norway and these differences, as much if not more than language differences, acted as determinants of the workers' OHS experiences and practices. 63 For instance, worker voice was expressed differently in Polish construction firms: for Polish workers in Norway, speaking up or filing incident reports was seen as "snitching," while this was not the case for Norwegian workers. Even without shared language, however, a skilled foreign worker could be acknowledged and respected by Norwegians in the same trade because of the shared skill set.…”