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Managing the Training needs of a Multicultural Employee Base

The financial cost of failure through poor or inadequate training can be significant. With effective training UK businesses could make significant savings as appropriate training can help to improve the speed and quality of production and most importantly it is a legal requirement. The Health and Safety Executive report that over 200 people are killed each year in accidents at work and over 1 million are injured. Two of the most frequent causes of accidents are manual handling and contact with machinery. Investigation of these accidents reveals that inadequate training contributed significantly in their cause

It is not enough for employers to assume that providing training in English will satisfy their statutory obligations and compliance responsibilities. The duty to train requires not only a comprehensive explanation of the risks and preventative measures in ordinary language, but also some appraisal as to whether each member of their workforce  has actually understood the instruction and training.

As a creator of learning and development systems, online training content and skills assessments in sectors which have a high instance of migrant workers, such as construction and healthcare, , we have already taken the decision to offer a multiple language option to all our clients. However the training industry as a whole must work alongside employers to provide solutions to address this major issue.  In the SME sector smaller organisations may be hampered in implementing additional bespoke training to accommodate migrant workers because of the cost implications. Therefore additional funding provision and practical support on how to implement new training initiatives for migrant workers needs to be addressed by both government bodies and industry representatives. The government funded initiative offering free English language training is ending and will now only be offered to workers on means tested benefits.  However, even if it was to remain available to all workers it would not solve the short term risk of non compliance associated with work-based training - learning a new language does not happen overnight and for some workers they may learn to speak the language but not necessarily to understand it which is crucial when receiving training.

The number of foreign nationals working in the UK increased by 5% to 1.5 million in 2005.
This significant increase in the number of workers from Europe and other commonwealth countries has created a marked increase in UK workers that do not speak English or do not have a strong grasp of the English language. Concern that migrant workers could be missing out on crucial health and safety training because their employers are not providing safety material in any language other than English has prompted the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the TUC to publish a new safety guide translated into 19 different languages.

A multicultural workforce presents a number of issues for UK employers who have the responsibility of ensuring, especially in regulated industries, that all employees have completed and understood their mandatory training and have the right skills and knowledge to perform their job. Employers need to ensure the health and safety of all staff – whatever their nationality – and ensure that their internal policies do not discriminate on the grounds of race.
There is high risk not only as an employer but also for the business as a whole if inadequate provision is made for foreign language speaking employees.

Foreign workers with a limited command of English may not understand fully safety briefings or training. A recent report from the Health and Safety Commission (HSE) showed that of the 59 workers who died in the construction industry last year five were migrant workers. Multiple language training or the use of an interpreter should be considered essential. Written material: training content, risk assessments, operating instructions, and working procedures need to be translated into the appropriate language(s).

As stated the HSE and TUC have both prepared generic health and safety training material in a number of foreign languages. Still, careful consideration must be given to creating bespoke training for a particular task or industry sector to ensure compliance.

 

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