Abstract
This study analyzed the relative risks of migrant workers, and identified risk factors based on quantitative data for the systematic safety management of migrant workers. Many studies have found that migrant workers are more vulnerable to safety accidents than non-migrant workers. Nevertheless, there are few quantitative studies of migrant workers’ accident-risk in the construction industry, where safety accidents are most frequent. In addition, safety management for the identified accident risk factors has not been implemented systematically. To fill the gap, this study uses safety accident data from construction sites, from the +, for the methodical safety management of migrant workers. The t-test and multiple regression analysis methods are used to define the variance in non-migrant and migrant workers, and the risk indicators, respectively. The two analyses show that the results for migrant construction workers were 2.2% higher in safety accident severity than non-migrant workers, and significant factors are also different. This study’s results will provide critical guidance for the safety management of migrant construction workers.
Highlights
As the difference in the economic conditions between countries expands, the numbers of migrant workers are increasing worldwide because of differences in wage levels and labor shortages
This study examined the relative risks of migrant workers in the construction industry in Korea, and defined risk factors, based on quantitative data, for the methodical safety management of migrant workers
It is necessary to consider the relative risk to migrant workers for safety management at the construction site; it is necessary to focus on migrant workers to reduce safety accidents
Summary
As the difference in the economic conditions between countries expands, the numbers of migrant workers are increasing worldwide because of differences in wage levels and labor shortages. According to Son et al (2013), migrant workers have different languages and cultures to the locals [3] This lack of common understanding tends to increase their risk of accidents over that of non-migrant workers [4,5]. Migrant workers around the world are concentrated in 3D (dirty, dangerous and demanding) jobs, such as outdoor construction, food service, agriculture, domestic work and manufacturing, which have lower public policy standards, or are out of the public eye [1] These occupations require repetitive physical work, with greater injury and safety risks [14,15,16]. The accident rate and death rates in the construction industry in 2017 were 0.84% and 1.90% , respectively, compared with 0.48% and 1.05% in the domestic industry, respectively, the construction industry’s rates being 1.75 times and 1.81 times higher, thereby making it the most dangerous industry
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