Investigating the knowledge about health

Abstract

The employment of migrants in the UK construction industry is growing annually particularly in the West Midlands. A research commissioned by the Institution of Civil Engineers investigated welfare and health and safety (H&S) of migrant workers in the South East of England. This research investigates the West Midland based North-Indian migrants’ awareness of issues related to health and safety on a construction site, as there seems to be no empirical evidence of any study carried out in H&S in other parts of England. A qualitative research approach was adopted with ten semi-structured interviews lasting an average of 25 minutes. Thematic analysis has been carried out on data acquired from interviews. The study revealed that migrants are employed in both skilled and unskilled jobs. They are often exploited for the fact that they have low English language skills. They have low health and safety knowledge and are paid significantly below the UK National Minimum Wage. This paper highlights to the industry and academia key aspects of safety awareness by immigrant workers in West Midlands. Further research is necessary to understand in a comprehensive way the situation faced by the migrants in order to implement specific measures.