Hazard Prevention Regarding Occupational Accidents Involving Blue-Collar Foreign Workers: A Perspective of Taiwanese Manpower Agencies.

Huan-Cheng Chang,Hung-Chang Liao,Shu-Fang Cheng,Ya-Huei Wang,Mei-Chin Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph13070706

Abstract

Since 1989, blue-collar foreign workers have been permitted to work in Taiwanese industries. Most blue-collar foreign workers apply for jobs in Taiwan through blue-collar foreign workers’ agencies. Because blue-collar foreign workers are not familiar with the language and culture in Taiwan, in occupational accident education and hazard prevention, the agencies play an important role in the coordination and translation between employees and blue-collar foreign workers. The purpose of this study is to establish the agencies’ role in the occupational accidents education and hazard prevention for blue-collar foreign workers in Taiwan. This study uses a qualitative method—grounded theory—to collect, code, and analyze the data in order to understand the agencies’ role in occupational accident education and hazard prevention for blue-collar foreign workers in Taiwan. The results show that the duty of agencies in occupational accident education and hazard prevention includes selecting appropriate blue-collar foreign workers, communicating between employees and blue-collar foreign workers, collecting occupational safety and health information, assisting in the training of occupational safety and health, and helping blue-collar foreign workers adapt to their lives in Taiwan. Finally, this study suggests seven important points and discusses the implementation process necessary to improve governmental policies. The government and employees should pay attention to the education/training of occupational safety and health for blue-collar foreign workers to eliminate unsafe behavior in order to protect the lives of blue-collar foreign workers.

Highlights

Many studies show that, compared to their local counterparts, migrant workers face greater challenges in adapting to their overall living environments, in addition to higher risks of occupational accidents and injuries
This paper explored Taiwanese manpower agencies’ perspectives in order to establish a mechanism of hazard prevention of occupational accidents for blue-collar foreign workers
Workers of all nationalities are entitled to job equality and are required to have occupational safety and health (OSH) knowledge, blue-collar foreign workers have relatively greater safety risks in the workplace because they have to adapt themselves mentally and physically to life in Taiwan, which is different from their home countries culturally and/or linguistically

Summary

Introduction

Many studies show that, compared to their local counterparts, migrant workers face greater challenges in adapting to their overall living environments, in addition to higher risks of occupational accidents and injuries. A French study [1] stated that the nature of tasks and employment (e.g., short-term or part-time employment) makes severe occupational risks more likely for migrant workers. Based on the above statistics, some scholars [2] have pointed out the alarming risks and accidents facing a majority of migrant workers, who perform the most dangerous, unhealthy, and unskilled tasks. The jobs of those who lack language skills or are underprivileged are even riskier, according to research [3]

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