Health, Safety and Well-being of Migrant Workers: New Hazards, New Workers


Book Description

This volume explores psychosocial problems amongst one of the most vulnerable social groups in our societies, immigrant workers, through a multidisciplinary approach. Migration has sometimes been oversimplified as a flow of workers from “poorer”, developing nations to “wealthier”, industrialised nations. The issue, however, is more complex and currently migration is a global phenomenon in which all countries are recipients of workers from third countries and send workers to third countries. The working conditions of immigrant workers at various levels are not always well known, though some studies have established that the negative impact on migrant workers is cumulative, and primarily stems from adverse living and working conditions in a new country and increased levels of vulnerability. The contributions to this volume cover discussions on migrant workers in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors across the world. They critically study the impact of work Hazards on the health and wellbeing of migrant workers in order to shed light on the social and health implications of migrant work, explore the relation between organizational, psychosocial and work factors, and analyse the migration process from a wider perspective and as a global phenomenon present in every country. The contributors provide multidisciplinary and multicultural contemporary perspectives, thereby providing readers with wide-ranging insights. This volume is of interest to researchers and students from the social and behavioural sciences, particularly those focusing on health studies and migration studies.




Safe Work in the 21st Century


Book Description

Despite many advances, 20 American workers die each day as a result of occupational injuries. And occupational safety and health (OSH) is becoming even more complex as workers move away from the long-term, fixed-site, employer relationship. This book looks at worker safety in the changing workplace and the challenge of ensuring a supply of top-notch OSH professionals. Recommendations are addressed to federal and state agencies, OSH organizations, educational institutions, employers, unions, and other stakeholders. The committee reviews trends in workforce demographics, the nature of work in the information age, globalization of work, and the revolution in health care deliveryâ€"exploring the implications for OSH education and training in the decade ahead. The core professions of OSH (occupational safety, industrial hygiene, and occupational medicine and nursing) and key related roles (employee assistance professional, ergonomist, and occupational health psychologist) are profiled-how many people are in the field, where they work, and what they do. The book reviews in detail the education, training, and education grants available to OSH professionals from public and private sources.




Migrant Workers' Access to Justice at Home


Book Description

Nepal's citizens engage in foreign employment at the highest per capita rate of any other country in Asia, and their remittances account for 25 percent of the country's GDP. The Middle East is now the most popular destination for Nepalis -- nearly 700,000 were working in the Middle East in 2011 on temporary labor contracts. For some Nepalis, working abroad provides much-needed household wealth. For others, their contributions to Nepal come at great personal cost. Migrant workers in the Gulf, for example, routinely report wage theft, lack of time off and unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. Some migrant workers report psychological and physical abuse, and other forms of labor exploitation that may rise to the level of forced labor, debt bondage or other forms of trafficking. Women engaged in domestic work are often isolated in the home, where they may also endure emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The story of labor migration begins and ends at home. The conditions that give rise to labor trafficking are often set pre-departure in the recruitment phase itself. Between 2012 and 2014, researchers from Nepal, Australia and the United States conducted a study on migrant workers' access to justice in Nepal, including for exploitation and trafficking. Justice was defined to comprise both compensation for losses, and the holding of perpetrators accountable, for example through fines, licensing sanctions, or even imprisonment. The study found that overall access to justice in Nepal was extremely low, especially for migrant workers who have been survivors of labor trafficking. However, clear routes exist to improvement. The full results of the study, and related recommendations, are contained in the report Migrant Workers Access to Justice at Home: Nepal. This is the second study in a series providing a comprehensive analysis of migrant workers' access to justice at home; the first study, Migrant Workers Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia, was published October 2013.




Immigration and Work


Book Description

This volume investigates how larger structural inequalities in sending and receiving nations, immigrant entry policies, group characteristics, and micro level processes, such as discrimination and access to ethnic networks, shapes labor market outcomes, workplace experiences, and patterns of integration among immigrants and their descendants.




Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries


Book Description

Universal health coverage (UHC) has been recognized by the World Health Organization as a key element in reducing social inequality and a critical component of sustainable development and poverty reduction. In most of the world UHC is sought through a combination of public and private-sector health care systems. In most low- and middle-income countries health systems are evolving to increasingly rely on the private sector because the public sector lacks the infrastructure and staff to meet all health care needs. With growing individual assets available for private-sector expenditure, patients often seek better access to technology, staff, and medicines. However, in low-income countries nearly 50 percent of health care financing is out-of-pocket. With the expected increase in the overall fraction of care provided through the private sector, these expenditures can be financially catastrophic for individuals in the informal workforce. In the global workforce of approximately 3 billion people, only 10 to 15 percent are estimated to have some type of access to occupational health services. The informal workforce is growing worldwide, and the degree to which its occupational health needs are satisfied depends on the capabilities of the general health care system. In July 2014, the Institute of Medicine held a workshop on approaches to universal health coverage and occupational health and safety for informal sector workers in developing countries. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from this workshop. Approaches to Universal Health Coverage and Occupational Health and Safety for the Informal Workforce in Developing Countries identifies best practices and lessons learned for the informal workforce in developing countries in the financing of health care with respect to health care delivery models that are especially suitable to meeting a population's needs for a variety of occupational health issues, including the prevention of or mitigation of hazardous risks and the costs of providing medical and rehabilitation services and other benefits to various types of workers within this population. These experiences and lessons learned may be useful for stakeholders in moving the discussions, policies, and mechanisms forward to increase equitable access to quality health services without financial hardship for the informal workforce.




Protecting Youth at Work


Book Description

In Massachusetts, a 12-year-old girl delivering newspapers is killed when a car strikes her bicycle. In Los Angeles, a 14-year-old boy repeatedly falls asleep in class, exhausted from his evening job. Although children and adolescents may benefit from working, there may also be negative social effects and sometimes danger in their jobs. Protecting Youth at Work looks at what is known about work done by children and adolescents and the effects of that work on their physical and emotional health and social functioning. The committee recommends specific initiatives for legislators, regulators, researchers, and employers. This book provides historical perspective on working children and adolescents in America and explores the framework of child labor laws that govern that work. The committee presents a wide range of data and analysis on the scope of youth employment, factors that put children and adolescents at risk in the workplace, and the positive and negative effects of employment, including data on educational attainment and lifestyle choices. Protecting Youth at Work also includes discussions of special issues for minority and disadvantaged youth, young workers in agriculture, and children who work in family-owned businesses.




Migration for Employment Bilateral Agreements at a Crossroads


Book Description

The publication presents an overview of foreign labour recruitment practices in OECD member countries. It discusses challenges to the negotiation of labour recruitment agreements and the prospects for potential co-operation on migration.




The Fourth Industrial Revolution


Book Description

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.




Health and Safety in Canadian Workplaces


Book Description

Workplace injuries happen every day and can profoundly affect workers, their families, and the communities in which they live. This textbook is for workers and students looking for an introduction to injury prevention on the job. Foster and Barnetson bring the field into the twenty-first century by including discussions of how precarious employment, gender, and ill-health can be better handled in Canadian OHS.




The Oxford Handbook of Multimethod and Mixed Methods Research Inquiry


Book Description

Offering a variety of innovative methods and tools, this book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date presentation on multi and mixed methods research.