A study on the health and safety of Chinese migrant workers in the New Zealand construction industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in School of Built Environment at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

The construction sector is a labour-intensive industry with high risks, where workers frequently face a variety of safety hazards on site. The continued advancement of globalisation has led to a rise in overseas migration, making migrant workers an increasingly important part of the construction industry's labour force. New Zealand (NZ) has experienced a rise in demand for skilled construction workers, a trend that has become even more pronounced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant construction workers are characterised by their high mobility, easy recruitment, and lower wages, which meet the dual needs of construction companies for human resources and cost control. However, migrant construction workers face challenges to safety management on construction sites due to factors such as language barriers, limited safety awareness, and unfamiliarity with safety policies. Chinese migrant construction workers (CMCWs) play a vital role in the global construction workforce. However, like other migrant workers, they face greater vulnerabilities on overseas construction sites compared to local workers. Given their significant contribution to the industry, the existing research on the health and safety of CMCWs should be expanded, with a deeper focus on addressing these challenges.

This thesis explores the influencing factors affecting the health and safety of CMCWs and investigates effective solutions for improvement. This study used qualitative and quantitative methods to achieve the research objectives, including a systematic literature review, partial least squares structure equational modelling (PLS-SEM), and the development of a web prototype platform.

The study outlines the definition of CMCWs and identifies various safety-influencing factors. Incentive strategies, particularly financial incentives, are seen as effective in improving CMCWs' safety compliance. However, key factors influencing their safety outcomes include their understanding of safety policies and personal variables such as safety awareness, education, and compliance. This research reports that the impact of language barriers and cultural differences on communication at New Zealand construction sites among CMCWs is not a major health and safety influence. This finding can be attributed to the preference of Chinese migrant workers to select construction sites with the same language environment, thereby mitigating the impact of language barriers and cultural differences on their safety communication. However, language barriers and personal factors contribute to the ineffectiveness of safety training when not tailored or targeted for subsets of the workforce. To address the needs of Chinese migrant construction workers, a novel safety web platform was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of this solution in improving CMCWs' health and safety standards.

This thesis offers theoretical guidance and practical data to support research in the realm of health and safety concerning migrant construction workers. Furthermore, the in-depth research on the health and safety of CMCWs also provides both practical and theoretical guidance for other researchers who are pursuing closely related research topics. The practical results and experimental data can contribute to New Zealand construction groups’ comprehension of the requirements of and challenges facing migrant construction workers in safety-related domains. The NZ government and construction societies can develop effective safety management strategies to improve the health and safety of CMCWs.