19 May 2009
Jocelyn Dorrell

As a result of the findings, the CCA has called on the government to amend the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act, passed in the wake of the Morecambe Bay tragedy in 2004, to cover the construction sector.
 
The new report is based on data released by the HSE following requests under the Freedom of Information Act. It shows that 12 migrant workers died in the construction industry in 2007/08 - a five-fold increase on five years earlier.

These deaths accounted for 17% of all construction fatalities in the year 2007/08, even though migrant workers comprised only an estimated 8% of the sector's workforce.

Migrant worker deaths overall are also on the rise, according to the CCA: the number of deaths among non-UK workers rose from nine in 2005/06 to 18 in 2007/08. Construction is the most dangerous sector for migrant workers, followed by services and agriculture.

The report focuses on the circumstances of 46 migrant worker deaths in England and Wales over a seven-year period.

Migrant workers killed during the period came from 24 different countries, with the vast majority from Eastern Europe: 16 from Poland, and two each from Ukraine, Romania and the Czech Republic.

Of the cases that have reached inquest, none has resulted in an unlawful killing verdict; the majority (28) were given as accidental death. But 44% of the deaths studied led to prosecutions on health and safety grounds, compared with a UK average of 30%.

"The increased level in the number of migrant deaths that result in a prosecution could well indicate that their deaths - compared to most worker deaths - are the result of more culpable failures on the part of employers or others," suggests the report.

The HSE doesn't record nationality in its injury statistics, but the CCA cites estimates that put the figure for migrant workers at 11% of the total recorded. Migrant workers account for around 5.4% of the total working population.

As well as extending the Gangmasters Licensing Authority's (GLA's) jurisdiction to cover the construction industry - to allow for tighter control of those engaging migrant workers to work on building projects - the CCA and Irwin Mitchell have called on the HSE to: "commission urgent research" into why migrant workers on construction are more vulnerable than UK workers; and to include nationality in injury reports made under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).

"Whilst there is merit in placing the problem of migrant workers within the general rubric of 'vulnerable workers' this may result in the particular problems faced by migrant workers being overlooked," the report concludes. "Consideration needs to be given to whether particular focus needs to be given to migrant workers."

The CCA/Irwin Mitchell report, Migrants' Workplace Place Deaths in Britain, can be downloaded here.

Categories:
Construction, HSE, News, Migrant workers

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