Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Migrant workers
No – but it would be helpful to understand simple key words and phrases relating to health and safety that others around you might use, such as ‘Fire!’ and ‘Stop!’.
Although health and safety law doesn’t generally require workers to be able to speak English, learning English reduces communication difficulties and has been shown to lead to higher productivity and retention rates, as well as promoting integration outside work.
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses are available if you need to improve your English.
Qualifications designed to teach you the essential English you might need in the workplace, including for health and safety, are also available. You may have to pay something towards a course, but if you are able to speak and read / write English, you will probably find it easier to work safely and healthily, fit in and make progress, both at work and in everyday life.
[Back to top]Your employer cannot charge you or require a refundable deposit from you when you start work for any protective clothing and equipment required to protect your health and safety at work. Charges for accommodation are limited by national and agricultural minimum wage regulations.
When HSE looks into a complaint it does not release the identity of the person who has complained. It will not tell the employer that there has been a complaint without the permission of the person who has complained.
Yes – your employer has a duty to identify and assess the risks to your health and safety and then tell you about them. Your employer should also provide you with any necessary information, instruction and training that you need to carry out your job safely and without any risk to your health.
The responsibility for your health and safety will probably be shared between the agency and the labour user for whom you are working. In many cases, most of the responsibility will be with the labour user rather than the agency – particularly where the labour user controls and directs your work. The agency and the labour user should have a written agreement in place which sets out their particular roles and responsibilities to ensure your health and safety.
Generally, British health and safety law does not recognise overseas qualifications or tests of competence. Because your employer has a legal duty to make sure you are competent for the work you do, you will probably have to undergo a test, and possibly retraining, if you are doing a job where you need specific skills (such as driving a fork-lift truck, or using a chainsaw).
In the construction industry, the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card is recognised as a way of showing proof of a worker’s skills. The organisation responsible for overseeing skills and training in the industry is Construction Skills.