Working environment and its impact on the health of immigrants

According to Wilkinson and Marmot, the type of work and working conditions significantly affect health. Good working opportunities enable immigrants to integrate themselves into society. The goal of the research investigation carried out within the project COST (Cooperation on Scientific and Technical Research, Reg. No. 10031, entitled “Health and Social Situation of Immigrants and Asylum Seekers”) was to map the working conditions of the target group of Vietnamese, Mongolian and Ukrainian immigrants (N = 236) and compare their working conditions with the working environment of the Czech population. Another goal of the study was to evaluate the effect of working environment on the health of immigrants. The results, involving the majority of the population, were drawn from a study of the European Survey on Health in the Czech Republic EHIS 2008 (European Health Interview Survey). The study was published by the Institution of Health Studies and Statistics of the Czech Republic (ÚZIS) in 2011. The questionnaire styled survey was conducted in 2011. From the results, it is evident that the target group of immigrants is exposed to unfavourable working circumstances more than the Czech population. The biggest differences were observed in the sphere of “sexual harassment or other psychological pressure” and “discrimination”. A higher incidence of unfavourable working circumstances significantly increased the number of illnesses caused by the employment. Immigrants were exposed to a number of unfavourable working conditions that increased the risk of work-related injuries. Although the Czech legislation requires employers to provide each employee the training on safety rules when starting a job, the study results point to insufficient training of immigrants in the sphere of health protection.