Construction safety and health problems of ethnic minority workers in Hong Kong
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 20 November 2017
Abstract
Purpose
With increasing employment of ethnic minority (EM) workers from different nationalities to mitigate the growing demand for a construction workforce, the safety and health problems of these workers have become a significant concern. The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank according to severity the safety and health-related problems confronted by EM construction workers.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded theory approach was employed to construct the main categories and subcategories of the construction safety and health problems of EM workers. A two-round Delphi survey of 18 experts, who are highly experienced in managing EM workers, was conducted to rank the relative severity of the identified safety and health problems.
Findings
A total of 14 subcategories and 4 categories of construction safety and health problems of EM workers were identified. Among the 14 subcategories, the most urgent and serious ones were insufficient safety materials and training in their native language, insufficient safety staff from EM origin, and safety communication barriers. In addition, safety and health problems at the corporate and governmental levels are also worth paying attention.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the update on the existing body of knowledge on safety and health problems encountered by EM construction workers and revelation of their peculiar situation in Hong Kong. Findings of the study will be of value to various stakeholders in formulating safety and health measures for EM construction workers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The work described in this paper was jointly supported by grants from the Hong Kong Central Policy Unit and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The paper forms part of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University funded project titled “Managing construction safety for ethnic minorities in Hong Kong” (Project No. 1-ZV9E), and Public Policy Research project titled “Improving safety communication of ethnic minority workers” (Project No. K-QZ1F) from which other deliverables are produced with different objectives/scope but share a common background and methodology. The authors would like to acknowledge and are grateful to all the interviewees and other industry experts who participated in this research and remain nameless, but without whom this research would have been impossible.
Citation
Chan, A.P.C., Wong, F.K.W., Hon, C.K.H., Ali Javed, A. and Lyu, S. (2017), "Construction safety and health problems of ethnic minority workers in Hong Kong", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 901-919. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-09-2015-0143
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited