제조업 외국인근로자의 산업안전보건과 사업장 변경의 딜레마

This study aims to investigate how occupational safety and health ofmigrant workers are ensured. We focus on law and institutional/organizational aspects, and personal behaviors. In many cases, issues ofmigrant workers’ OSH have been dealt in terms of cultural and languagedifficulties. However, it is not enough to grasp the migrant worker’s OSHrelated problems. We examine how the institutional requirements such as Korean Languageability test, employment education and migrant workers’ job career secureOSH for migrant workers before they arrived in Korea. We also discusswhether employers appropriately provide migrant workers with appropriateOSH training. There are four types of migrant workers’ responses when OSH doesn’t workproperly. First, migrant workers take care of themselves. Second, they don’trealize the risk of industrial accident and the necessity of OSH. Third, theychange or leave the workplace without legal permission. Forth, they give upchanging workplace due to their boss’s disapproval and continue to stay atthe same workplace. The last case do not match with the common social notionthat migrant workers change their jobs for higher wage. Since workplacechange or departure often results in disadvantage such as the restriction onre-entry to Korea in the future, migrant workers are not likely to change theirworkplaces. The result of this study suggests that previous job career of migrant workersin their own country should be linked to their job ability required for current work tasks. It is necessary to heighten the recognition of the OSH among bothemployers and migrant workers. Either improvements of working conditionsor endowment of rights of changing their workplace in case of confrontinghealth hazard is necessary for occupational health for migrant workers.