According to a study by the Centre for the Research of Health at Work, work-related accidents in Spain are more common among migrant workers compared with Spanish workers. In addition, a large proportion of migrant workers reveal that they are exposed to precarious working and employment conditions that impact negatively on their health. Thus, work precariousness may also lead to social precariousness, adding to the disadvantaged position of migrants in Spanish society.
In March 2009, the Centre for the Research of Health at Work (Centro de Investigación en Salud Laboral, CISAL) within the University Pompeu Fabra (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, UPF) published the report ‘Immigration, work and health’ (ITSAL: Inmigración, Trabajo y Salud (3.9Mb PDF)). The research project was financed by the Sanitary Research Fund of the Carlos III Health Institute (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISC). From a methodological perspective, the study was conducted between 2006 and 2008, combining both quantitative information from the official statistics on accidents at work (in Spanish) issued by the Ministry of Labour and Immigration (Ministerio de Trabajo e Inmigración, MTIN) and qualitative information directly obtained from individual interviews and focus groups among migrants working in Spain for at least three months.
Higher incidence of work accidents among migrants
Over the past two decades, Spain has witnessed a massive growth of the foreign migrant population in the country. For instance, while in 1991 about 350,000 foreigners were living in Spain, in 2007 this figure had increased to 4.5 million foreigners, according to official estimations from the National Statistics Institute (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE). This figure represents about 10% of the total Spanish population, although with important differences between the regions. Besides this rapid growth of the foreign population, very little is known about the impact that existing working and employment conditions have on migrants’ health.
According to the report, work accidents are more common among migrant workers compared with Spanish workers. Thus, while 71.6 people per 1,000 Spanish workers suffered from an accident at work in 2005, this ratio increased among migrant workers to 81.1 workers per 1,000. Moreover, 8.8 people per 100,000 Spanish workers had a fatal accident at work, whereas this ratio was as high as 11.8 persons among migrant workers. These findings may primarily be explained by the fact that migrant workers are usually employed in those sectors of the economy and occupations which show the poorest and more hazardous working conditions. Interestingly, these differences between national and migrant workers are particularly relevant when women and older workers are taken into consideration.
Migrant workers exposed to poor working conditions
The report also identifies the perception that migrant workers have of their own working conditions. Generally speaking, a large proportion of migrant workers reveal that they are exposed to precarious working and employment conditions, characterised by a low salary, long working days, work instability, irregular working practices (for example, in relation to employment contracts), difficulties with regard to the recognition of their working rights, as well as significant risks for their health. Some of the migrant workers also report that they are over-qualified for their current job and encounter difficulties in finding a job matching their qualifications as a result of their insufficient knowledge of Spanish.
In addition, migrant workers consider that they are more exposed to taking on less qualified jobs in comparison to the average Spanish worker. They also reveal that they have easier access to certain economic sectors, such as construction, agriculture, household services, as well as hotels, restaurants and catering (HORECA). Furthermore, migrant workers confirm an important lack of knowledge about their labour rights and the fact that they have a considerable need to extend their working hours in order to have access to higher pay. In terms of social well-being, the report highlights that, for these workers, work precariousness also leads to social precariousness, making these individuals particularly disadvantaged in Spanish society.
Commentary
Over the past two decades, Spain has experienced a massive inflow of foreign workers who have been incorporated into the labour market. Indeed, these migrants have been a key factor for sustaining the booming Spanish labour market in certain economic sectors in recent years. Migrant workers have been generally employed in those occupations and sectors of the economy where native Spaniards have been more reluctant to work, and they have been largely offered very precarious working and employment conditions. This situation explains the high levels of health risks and occupational accidents that migrant workers experience in their working lives. Looking to the future, it is not clear how the current economic crisis will affect the working conditions of migrants compared with the native Spanish population, although rising unemployment in certain sectors, such as construction, is already having negative consequences for them.
Iñigo Isusi, IKEI