Safety at Work for Migrant Workers

London's construction industry is made up of a significant proportion
of migrant workers, and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has
acknowledged them as a particularly vulnerable group within it.

This is due to the following:

* They can suffer from poor English;
* Can lack an understanding of UK health and safety standards;
* They may lack an awareness of employment rights, and experience or skills;
* They are often open to exploitation by unscrupulous employers;
* Can face serious problems in regards to poor accommodation,
unpaid wages and grievances relating to their employment rights.

Taking the above into consideration, under these circumstances, poor
health and safety standards at work can become a low priority.

Subsequently, the HSE is now recruiting outreach workers to work
alongside the inspectors and Compliance Officers. This is to increase
the HSE's interaction with migrant workers in construction, some of
the largest groups coming from Poland, Romania and India.

These workers' awareness to their rights in relation to health and
safety at work are to be improved by the outreach roles, which will be
based in London. The jobs will include visits to construction sites,
liaisons with the immigrant community organisations, local
authorities, faith communities, further education colleges, trade
union and employers, and organising events, and developing links,
networks and partnerships.

In addition to promoting migrant workers safety, this month, HSE
inspectors are visiting London construction sites to ensure that site
operators are not putting their workers - or the public - at risk of
injury or death.

In 2007/08, London's construction industry suffered from the death of
11 workers with 1,600 suffering major injuries, or injuries which
require more than 3 days off work. In this same period, one member of
the public was killed, with 36 people injured as a result of incidents
involving construction sites. The HSE inspectors are targeting
principal contractors to observe how they are managing safe working at
height, good order on site, and risks associated with exposure to
asbestos.

If safety lapses are found, the HSE has warned that contractors can
expect strong enforcement action. A similar initiative was carried out
in February 2007, and of the 162 sites inspected in London,
enforcement action was taken in 55 cases.