Occupational health problems among migrant workers in Samut Sakhon Province

Abstract

The objectives of this study were to access (1) the general health and occupational health problems(2) the risk perception and the experience on occupational health problems and (3) the correlation betweenfactors and risk perception and the experience on occupational health problems among migrant workers inSamut Sakhon Province. The data was collected using structured questionnaire to interview 1,014 migrantworkers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos who worked in seafood processing industries, agriculture sector,construction site and other industries. The qualitative data from in-depth interview was carried out in 16 migrant workers and 3 healthcare workers. The results showed that most migrant workers were Myanmarworkers (95.0%) with the age of 25-34 years old. Seafood processing migrant workers and were themajority in this study (35.7%). Most migrant workers received weekly payment (41.8%) and work durationwas between 8-12 hours a day (60.0%). Most general health problems of migrant workers were headache(58.4%), low back pain (40.6%), and diarrhoea (30.4%). The results showed that types of work and duration of work had a significant association with risk perception. Migrant workers in agriculture sectorshowed high perception on skin disease. Seafood processing migrant workers showed high perception on slippery whereas the perception on back pain from carrying heavy objects found highly among constructionmigrant workers. Types of work, gender, and duration of work had a significant association with the experiences on occupational diseases and accidents. Migrant workers in agriculture sector showed high experienceson skin disease whereas construction migrant workers showed high experiences on back pain from carrying heavy objects. Accidents from machine cutting found in females higher than males. Migrant workers who worked 12 to 18 hours per day showed high accidents from slippery whereas who worked more than 18 hours per day showed high accident from falling at height. From in-depth interview, although there was nodifference in working condition and environment between Thai and migrant workers, migrant workers weremore likely to have higher risks than Thai workers because of their language barriers. In addition, most migrant workers did not aware of their health and safety at work. The accessibility of a fundamental health care services is provided for migrant workers such as health insurance, work-permit registration and annually health check-up. Health services are undertaken by government hospitals for diagnosis and treatment but there is limited on health promotion and prevention. In addition, some of migrants were chosen to be volunteers to deliver health’s message for migrant workers. This study suggested that cooperation and coordination among local health authorities and employers is needed to provide services on occupational health and safety. Moreover, the information on occupational health and safety should translate into their languages in order to increase their awareness.