Safety training for migrant workers in the construction industry: A systematic review and future research agenda

In the construction sector, there is a high risk for accidents, injuries, and fatalities, particularly for migrant workers who comprise a large proportion of the workforce. This article presents a systematic literature review of current safety training provision for migrant construction workers. In the interests of rigor, we draw on the learning, training transfer, and training effectiveness literatures, exploring not only the extent to which training brings about the intended outcomes, in terms of enhanced safety behaviors, and reduced accidents and injuries, but also the factors that influence learning and transfer of training back to the working environment. The literature search revealed only 18 peer-reviewed articles have been published since 2000, which is particularly surprising, given the disproportionate accident and fatality rates for migrant workers. Consequently, we propose a research agenda to enhance safety training for low skilled, migrant and native construction workers, drawing on cognitive and social constructivist instructional design models, which view training as a dynamic process involving active participation of trainees. We advocate the importance of attending to the situational context in which workers are embedded, including labor market conditions, social relations, and cultural differences. Finally, we propose the need for further longitudinal, multidimensional research to evaluate the impact of safety training on learning, transfer of training, and individual- and organizational-level outcomes, such as behavior change, and accident and fatality rates.