An Assessment of Migrant Worker Health and Safety Risks
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HSE Health & Safety Executive Migrant workers in England and Wales An assessment of migrant worker health and safety risks Dr Sonia McKay Marc Craw Deepta Chopra Working Lives Research Institute London Metropolitan University 31 Jewry St London EC3N 2EY This report, which draws on interviews with 200 migrant workers in five regions of England and Wales, considers whether the position that recent migrant workers occupy within the labour market puts their health and safety at increased risk, in comparison with other workers in similar positions. The research findings suggest that it is not the case that the risks inherent in a particular type of work of necessity only present themselves in relation to migrant workers. However, what it does reveal is 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 and limited knowledge of the UK’s health and safety system. The report also notes that migrant motivations in coming to the UK, particularly where these are premised on earning as much as possible in the shortest possible time, add to their risk factors and that limited means of communication between migrant workers and indigeneous supervisors also may place these workers at greater risk. This report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy. HSE BOOKS © Crown copyright 2006 First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Applications for reproduction should be made in writing to: Licensing Division, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, St Clements House, 216 Colegate, Norwich NR3 1BQ or by email to hmsolicensing@cabinetoffice.x.gsi.gov.uk ii CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................ Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................... v 1. BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................. 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... 2 1.3 OVERALL METHODOLOGY..................................................................................... 2 1.4 INFORMATION SOUGHT.......................................................................................... 3 1.5 PROCESSES AND PROGRESS ............................................................................. 4 1.6 METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS ....................................................................... 13 1.7 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................. 15 2. MIGRATION POLICIES AND PRACTICE .............................................................. 17 2.1 UK IMMIGRATION POLICY .................................................................................... 17 2.2 IMMIGRATION STATUS .......................................................................................... 18 2.3 STATISTICS ON MIGRANT WORKERS IN THE UK ....................................... 21 2.4 SOCIO-ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MIGRATION ................................................. 25 2.5 THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF MIGRANT WORKERS ................................ 26 3. HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK .............................................................................. 32 3.1 THE HEALTH AND SAFETY FRAMEWORK...................................................... 32 3.2 FINDINGS FROM MEETINGS WITH HSE FIELD OPERATIONS DIRECTORATE OFFICERS (FOD) .............................................................................. 37 3.3 INFORMATION FROM THE FOCUS REPORTS............................................... 39 4. REGIONAL OVERVIEWS............................................................................................... 45 4.1. EAST OF ENGLAND ............................................................................................... 45 4.2 LONDON ...................................................................................................................... 49 4.3 NORTH EAST ............................................................................................................. 52 4.4 SOUTH WALES ......................................................................................................... 56 4.5 SOUTH WEST ENGLAND....................................................................................... 59 5. OVERALL PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN ENGLAND AND WALES ... 64 5.1 POSTAL SURVEY FINDINGS ................................................................................ 65 5.2 COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN AND NATIONALITY .................................................. 74 5.3 GENDER ...................................................................................................................... 77 5.4 AGE ............................................................................................................................... 78 5.5 STATUS AND ITS IMPACT ON EMPLOYMENT AND HEALTH AND SAFETY............................................................................................................................... 79 5.6. ROUTES INTO EMPLOYMENT............................................................................ 81 5.7 NATURE OF THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP ........................................ 82 5.8 LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE OF MIGRANT WORKERS .................................. 83 5.9 SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS............................................................................ 86 5.10 REASONS FOR EMPLOYING MIGRANT WORKERS .................................. 88 6. MIGRANT WORKERS, HEALTH, SAFETY AND EMPLOYMENT ....................... 90 6.1 HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE ................................................. 90 6.2 ISSUES OF WORKPLACE HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELFARE .................. 98 6.3 GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS............................................................... 99 6.4 HOW THE DIFFERENT PARTIES INTERPRET THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY ....................................................................................... 102 6.5 FACTORS AFFECTING RISKS AT WORK....................................................... 113 6.6 IMMIGRATION STATUS AND ITS IMPACT ON HEALTH AND SAFETY . 116 6.7 MECHANISMS FOR REPRESENTATION ........................................................ 118 6.8 DISCRIMINATION AND ITS IMPACT ON WORKPLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY............................................................................................................................. 122 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................... 128 iii RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 130 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 135 APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................... 142 APPENDIX A: SECTOR ANALYSIS ............................................................................... 142 A.1 PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN AGRICULTURE .............................. 142 A.2 PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN CLEANING....................................... 154 A.3 PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN CONSTRUCTION........................... 166 A.4 PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN HEALTHCARE ................................ 184 A.5 PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN HOTELS AND CATERING ........... 201 A.6 PROFILE OF MIGRANT WORKING IN PROCESSING AND PACKAGING ............................................................................................................................................. 220 APPENDIX B: PROJECT ADVISORY BOARD ............................................................ 248 APPENDIX C: EMPLOYER SURVEY ............................................................................ 249 Appendix D: Union Survey ................................................................................................ 255 APPENDIX E: FLYER......................................................................................................... 262 APPENDIX F: MIGRANT WORKER INTERVIEW – TOPIC GUIDE ....................... 263 APPENDIX G: EMPLOYER INTERVIEW – TOPIC GUIDE ...................................... 267 APPENDIX H: KEY RESPONDENT INTERVIEWS – TOPIC GUIDE..................... 271 iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Although there are no precise figures for the number of new migrants in the labour force, the available statistics suggest that their number is growing and that in some regions and in some industrial sectors or occupations, they form a significant section of the workforce. The geographical spread of migrant workers