The Thematic Review on the Safety and Health Measures of Foreign Workers in the Construction Sector in Malaysia

Purpose: Malaysia has been under fire for years for its treatment of foreign workers, whether legitimately or illegally. When the economy is in decline, the government's goal is to decrease the number of undocumented foreign workers by arresting them or threatening them with deportation; when the economy is steady, the government will find a method to increase worker entrance. Despite its popularity, no review article has been published on the subject of foreign worker safety and health measures. The purpose of this thematic review is to combine material from 2000 to 2021 that discusses foreign worker safety and health measures. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 191 peer-reviewed journal articles were found using a keyword search followed by a filter based on SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Hein Online inclusion criteria using ATLAS.ti 8. However, after the inclusion and exclusion procedure, only 38 papers were selected for evaluation. A thematic analysis of these 38 publications revealed 21 initial codes that discussed the safety and health of foreign workers. The codes were clustered into three categories; human rights, technology, and education. Findings: The findings contribute to future research on safety and health measures. Despite the criticism on the bad treatment of foreign workers, the Malaysian authority still preserves its sovereignty and does not succumb to public pressure but at the same time adhere to the Sustainable Development Goals focuses explicitly on labour rights protection and the promotion of healthy and secure working conditions for all employees, including migrant workers, particularly women migrants and those in hazardous professions. Research limitations/implications: The study identifies significant gaps in current knowledge about the safety and health measures applicable to foreign employees, especially in the construction sector and a further study should also consider the review on other sectors especially on manufacturing since both sectors recorded high industrial accident and fatality rate. The study of the literature may have overlooked any important articles that utilise other terminology. Practical implications: Employers should also play an important part in making sure that the safety and health measure of their foreign employees is adhering to the standard. This will also reduce direct costs, such as a rise in insurance claims and payouts. Other indirect costs to the employer include reduced productivity, quality, project delay, and non-conformance. Originality/value: This is the first time that the research on safety and health measures has been consolidated and reviewed for publication in this manner. Paper type: Literature review Keywords: Foreign worker, Migrant, Human rights, Technology, Education
Introduction The construction sector is one of the biggest on a global scale and is critical to a country's growth (Asif, 2016). The construction industry's significant contribution to Malaysia's economy [...]