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Migrant Workers

This is an excerpt from the TUC book "Hazards at Work: Organising for safe and healthy workplaces", the best-selling guide to health and safety at work. To buy a copy order here(if you are a safety representative on a TUC training course please speak to your tutor about getting a discounted copy)

BASIC FACTS ABOUT MIGRANT WORKERS

According to the International Labour Organisation, millions of people across the world are on the move - doing jobs ranging from menial labour such as harvesting to computer programming. Combined, their numbers would equal the fifth most populous country on the planet. The number of migrants crossing borders in search of employment and human security is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades due to the failure of globalisation to provide jobs and economic opportunities.

The ILO Conference report, Towards a Fair Deal for Migrant Workers in the Global Economy, summed up the relevance of occupational health and safety for migrant workers on pages 64–66: there are two aspects of health issues for migrant workers: a) occupational safety and health at the workplace; and b) general health conditions of the workers and their families. These are closely interrelated. Occupational safety and health is an important issue for migrant workers for several reasons:

  • Migrant workers tend to be employed in high-risk sectors.
  • Language and cultural barriers require specific occupational safety and health communication, instructions and training approaches.
  • Many of these workers overwork and/or suffer from poor general health and are therefore particularly prone to occupational injuries and work-related diseases.

In September 2006, a report was written for the TUC by the independent Policy Studies Institute called The Hidden One-in-Five – Winning a Fair Deal for Britain’s Vulnerable Workers. The report used official statistics to show that around 5.3 million workers earn below one third of the median hourly wage and do not have a trade union to negotiate their terms and conditions, and are therefore vulnerable to exploitation. Migrant workers were identified amongst the groups in the workforce who are particularly subject to poor conditions. The report identified that many migrant workers were clearly subject to exploitation, and yet often denied even their legal rights. While there are no accurate statistics for the total number of migrant workers nearly half a million people for the new EU member states registered as workers between May 2004 and June 2006 (though many will have now returned home).

In October 2006, new research carried out by London Metropolitan University on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed the risks faced by migrant workers in England and Wales. It outlined the potential for exploitation of migrants and other workers in sectors where attention to health and safety is poor, and highlighted the challenges to employers, HSE and other agencies in tackling the problems.

The research confirmed the profile of migrant workers emerging from earlier studies. In general, they are over-qualified for the work that they do and work long or anti-social hours in areas of work where for a variety of reasons there is no suitable local labour. Thus they represent an important component in the UK labour force. The research goes on to summarise that in some areas of the country, without migrant workers, hospitals and care homes would be without staff, construction would not boom, hotels and restaurants would be unable to service customers and farmers and food processing firms would not be able to distribute their produce to the shops.

The research revealed that migrants are more likely to be working in sectors or occupations where there are existing health and safety concerns and that it is their status as new workers that may place them at added risk, due to their:

  • relatively short periods of work in the UK
  • limited knowledge of the UK’s health and safety system
  • different experiences of health and safety regimes in countries of origin
  • motivations in coming to the UK, particularly where these are premised on earning as much as possible in the shortest possible time
  • reduced ability to communicate effectively with other workers and with supervisors, particularly in relation to their understanding of risk
  • access to limited health and safety training and their difficulties in understanding what is being offered, where proficiency in English is limited
  • failure of employers to check on their skills for work and on their language skills
  • employment relationships and unclear responsibilities for health and safety, in particular where workers are supplied by recruitment agencies or labour providers or are self-employed
  • lack of knowledge of health and safety rights and how to raise them, including knowledge of the channels through which they can be represented

For the full research document Migrant Workers in England and Wales: An Assessment of Migrant Worker Health and Safety Risks

LEGAL AND OTHER STANDARDS FOR PREVENTION AND CONTROL

Migrant workers should be protected by the same laws as other workers (see also the boxes on the Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999):

  • SRSC Regulations 1977 – Chapter 3, with reference to safety representatives’ rights and consultation
  • Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 – Chapter 12, dealing with the general duties of employers and employees under Sections 2–9. Generally, the employer has a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all employees, including migrant workers and to provide information and training

Following the publication of the research report Migrant Workers in England and Wales detailed above, the HSE has set up a migrant workers microsite at www.hse.gov.uk/migrantworkers/about.htm.

This website is designed to provide essential information, guidance and advice on workplace health and safety for workers from overseas and their employers. The web pages have been specifically developed to explain how health and safety law protects those from overseas working in the UK. It also provides essential guidance on the roles and responsibilities of employers and workers under British health and safety law. Parts of the site are available in 13 different languages in addition to English.

The site contains separate advice and information pages for both workers and employers; it provides a “Useful contacts list” of organisations available to give advice and help. The HSE has also produced a factcard for workers from the former Eastern Europe and Russia called Working in the UK from overseas? – Your health and safety at work in agriculture and food processing (INDG410), which is available in Bulgarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian and Ukrainian. www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg410.pdf

HSE’s Infoline (0845 345 0055) has the facility to set up a three-way conversation between adviser, caller and an interpreter, where the caller does not speak English. This facility is available in more than 100 languages. Callers simply have to state what language they wish to speak. They will then be connected to an interpreter to continue the call.

WHAT CAN SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES DO?

There are a number of positive steps that safety representatives can take to ensure that migrant workers are treated equally in any workplace. Examples of measures that can be taken include:

  • ensuring that laws are implemented in the workplace for all workers including migrant workers
  • making sure that any migrant workers can access TUC health and safety guidance in their own language
  • introducing trade union health and safety education programmes for migrant workers who speak English as a second language
  • developing agreements with employers to ensure that the rights of migrant workers are fully respected
  • making sure that any migrant workers can access the TUC rights at work guidance in their own language
  • ensuring that employers’ health and safety policies properly address the health and safety issues that affect migrant workers
  • doing a special inspection that concentrates on migrant workers and their health and safety conditions
  • doing a special inspection that concentrates on the information and training provided to migrant workers

There are many migrant workers working in the construction industry where communications and information about health and safety are serious issues. One of the unions representing construction workers has taken steps to tackle this in partnership with local Further Education Colleges. Union learning representatives from the construction union UCATT have helped migrant workers who speak only a few words of English improve their safety awareness by running basic language courses in a learning centre. The centre has proved very popular with the workers – who are mainly from Eastern Europe – and the learning representatives say that a basic grasp of English can literally mean the difference between life and death for the workers on site.

Similarly, migrant workers in the retail sector have been taking advantage of language courses facilitated by their trade union USDAW. USDAW General Secretary, John Hannett, speaking during the joint union campaign in 2007 to ensure affordable access to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses, stated that “Many migrant workers find work in the retail sector, particularly the distribution network, when they join the workforce and our experience is that English for ESOL is hugely popular with migrant workers keen to learn English as quickly as possible. In 2006 alone, hundreds of USDAW members took advantage of ESOL classes. There is no doubt that improved language skills mean vulnerable workers are less likely to be exploited and are essential in maintaining health and safety standards in the workplace and making sure there is greater social inclusion for migrant workers.”

Thorough, but easy to understand training is vital if workers are to stay healthy and safe at work. Unions are doing all they can to help foreign workers grasp the basics of English and now employers can use TUC leaflets to make sure the safety message is being understood loudly and clearly. The HSE and the TUC have published a new safety leaflet translated into 19 different languages – Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Czech, Greek, Gujarati, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian and Welsh – and is an attempt to improve safety awareness for this growing segment of the UK workforce (see checklist and Further Information below).

GANGMASTERS LICENSING ACT 2004

The Gangmasters Licensing Act 2004:

  • applies to the whole of the UK and covers agricultural and horticultural work, shellfish gathering and the processing or packaging of any products derived from these industrie.
  • defines a gangmaster as anyone employing, supplying and or supervising a worker to do work in the sectors outlined; it will apply to gangmasters whether based in the UK or based offshore; and it will also cover all forms of sub-contracting
  • extends the full protection of the law to any individual worker undertaking work to which its provisions apply
  • brings employemnt agencies and businesses (as defined by the Employment Agencies Act 1973) within the ambit of this Act if they are engaged in activities for which a licence is required.

The Act established the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) which operates the licensing scheme for labour providers operating in the sectors the Act regulates. It was set up to curb the exploitation of workers in these industries. It is now illegal to supply workers without a GLA licence. Since the GLA was launched in 2006 the authority has investigated worker abuse which has included:

  • forced labour
  • threats and verbal abuse against workers
  • workers forced to pay illegal deductions from wages for unsuitable or overcrowded accommodation
  • workers forced to travel to work in ‘death trap’ vans
  • workers being paid below the minimum wage
  • workers whose health and safety has been put at risk
  • manipulation of worker documents.

In June 2008 the GLA launched Operation Ajax to step up the fight against gangmasters who abuse workers. Ajax runs until the end of 2009, involving surprise raids throughout the UK where the GLA believes there is abuse. The TUC welcomed the initiative, but pointed out that not all workers are protected by the GLA. They believe that its targeted and effective approach to stamping out rogue employers should be extended to other sectors, such as cleaning, care homes and construction, where it is known that extreme abuse remains rife.

In March 2009, an independent report into the performance of the GLA by the Universities of Sheffield and Liverpool showed that almost 80 per cent of employers were in favour of licensing, and 69 per cent thought the GLA was doing a good job. The report’s authors said that “the tough enforcement approach of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority makes for effective regulation. It is a model of regulation that really works.” Following publication of the report, the Chair of the GLA commented that:

“Effective regulation is achieved by the direct and tough enforcement of clear rules. You need an enforcement mentality to achieve this. For example, I was delighted to receive a complaint recently that one of our staff was too forceful. I established that the officer concerned had been polite and correct and congratulated him on his tough yet appropriate approach. The complainant was shocked – he had expected a slapped wrist. We exist to ensure that the laws Parliament has passed to protect workers and make businesses pay their fair share of taxes are enforced. We look kindly on those who are trying hard but get it wrong but we will stand no nonsense from the cheats, the rogues and the crooks.”

By April 2009, the GLA had revoked 89 licenses and refused many more. Prosecutions of a number of employers were in the pipeline. For full details see www.gla.gov.uk/index.asp

MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK REGULATIONS 1999 (see Chapter 13)

These Regulations apply to all workers but certain Regulations relating to information and training are particularly important.

Regulation 10: Information for employees

Providing employees with comprehensible and relevant information on:

  • health and safety risks from the assessment
  • preventive and protective measures
  • procedures for serious and imminent danger
  • competent persons

Guidance to the Regulations recommends that the risk assessment should identify information which has to be provided for workers. Information should be appropriate for the level of training, knowledge and experience of the worker. Information should be capable of being understood by workers. An interpretation of this might incorporate some migrant workers who may not be able to read English well. In these circumstances, special arrangements may need to be made by the employer, such as translation of information into the migrant workers’ first language.

Regulation 13: Capabilities and training

  • Taking into account employees’ capabilities when giving tasks
  • Providing training when employees are recruited; when being exposed to new or increased risks; and repeated periodically
  • Training to be provided in working hours

The Approved Code of Practice states that when allocating work to workers, employers should ensure that the demands of the job do not exceed the workers’ ability to carry out the work. Employers should take account of workers’ capabilities and their level of training, knowledge and experience. Again, an interpretation of the Regulations and ACoP would suggest that this is particularly important for migrant workers.

 

Download the Migrant Workers Checklist (PDF)

FURTHER INFORMATION (in alphabetical order)

Hazards magazine website

Excellent news and resources on the migrant workers web resource page

HSE priced and free publications

International Labour Organisation (see Section 6.4 for contact details)

Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants

JCWI is an independent national voluntary organisation, campaigning for justice and combating racism in immigration and asylum law and policy

Labour Research Department (see Section 6.2 for contact details)

  • Health and Safety Law – an LRD Guide £9.50

TUC (see Section 6.1 for contact details)

Trade union information

This page http://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/migrantworkers.cfm
printed 10 February 2012 at 00:41 hrs by 38.107.179.234