Taking risks and survival jobs: Foreign-born workers and work-related injuries in Australia

The impact of migration on deaths and hospital admissions from work‐related injuries in Australia

“…Transport, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and construction industries consistently have the highest WRM in Australia 34,35 . Australian‐born workers were also more likely to work without paid leave entitlements (17.3%) than foreign‐born workers (16.2%), but other conditions of shift work, working fixed term or contracts and working longer than 38 hours per week did not differ between Australian or foreign‐born workers 33 . Foreign‐born workers who have migrated to Australia as skilled migrants based on their educational qualifications, work experience and skills and English language proficiency are more likely to work in the services (48.9%), manufacturing (10.8%) and hospitality (5.9%) industries compared with Australian‐born workers 33 .…”

“…Australian‐born workers were also more likely to work without paid leave entitlements (17.3%) than foreign‐born workers (16.2%), but other conditions of shift work, working fixed term or contracts and working longer than 38 hours per week did not differ between Australian or foreign‐born workers 33 . Foreign‐born workers who have migrated to Australia as skilled migrants based on their educational qualifications, work experience and skills and English language proficiency are more likely to work in the services (48.9%), manufacturing (10.8%) and hospitality (5.9%) industries compared with Australian‐born workers 33 . NZ workers were an exception, and their generally greater mortality risks compared to the Australian‐born workers might be related to their greater likelihood to work in high‐risk industries, such as construction and manufacturing) 36 NZ males are more likely to work in construction (21%) and manufacturing (13%) than the Australian population (15% and 12% respectively).…”

“…The findings correspond with recent analyses of the national multi‐purpose household surveys conducted in 2005–06 and 2009–10 that showed higher rates of WRI among Australian‐born compared with foreign‐born workers. Australian‐born workers were more likely to work in agriculture (4.2% vs. 1.2%) and construction (8.3% vs. 7.1%), and less likely to work in the service industry (46.4% vs. 48.9%) than foreign‐born workers 33 . Transport, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and construction industries consistently have the highest WRM in Australia 34,35 .…”

Prevalence of occupational exposure to carcinogens among workers of Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese ancestry in Australia

“…Chinese and Vietnamese groups were chosen as they are large ethnic‐minority groups in Australia, and research indicates Vietnamese‐ and Chinese‐born workers have different rates of work‐related injuries than Australian‐born workers [Reid et al, ]. The Arabic group was chosen as we had had little success in recruiting that group to participate in our previous research studies, so we wanted to test if the telephone‐based recruitment method used in this study would recruit a representative sample of that population.…”

Belonging, Temporariness and Seasonal Labour: Working Holidaymakers’ Experiences in Regional Australia

“…A carefree attitude and assumed naivety resulting from a lack of appropriate contextual cultural knowledge does not account for working holidaymakers' increased likelihood of exposure to risk in everyday life. Like other temporary migrants, working holidaymakers have minimal access to the safety nets associated with citizenship (Rajkumar, Berkowitz, Vosko, Preston, & Latham, 2012), and are forced to accept 'survival jobs' (see Reid et al, 2014) that involve conditions they would not be exposed to or tolerate in their home countries. As a transient population, working holidaymakers have minimal linkages to anyone outside of their own communities or enclaves (see Schmid, 2008), with external connections mostly fleeting and based on transactional relationships.…”