[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

“Let’s stop dangerous work" The right of work suspension— how to address blind spots for migrant and subcontracted workers” 10 October 2024

The Metal Workers' Union …has published a report on the state and challenges of the right of work suspension, following an examination of related provisions and workplace practices.

Concerns have been raised regarding the blind spots where workers, such as subcontracted employees in shipyards, are unable to effectively exercise their right to halt dangerous work…

…Subcontracted workers also struggle to improve safety systems. While subcontractor companies often lack the capacity to establish independent health and safety measures, subcontracted workers are not permitted to participate in the primary contractor’s occupational health and safety committee, which hinders their ability to address and examine risk factors effectively.

…The safety issues faced by migrant workers are equally severe. …It was reported that 18.7% of respondents had received training in a language they did not understand.

Currently, there are workers from 41 different countries employed in shipyards. A union official, Mr. A lamented, “A migrant worker fell from a height of 1.7 meters, but due to communication barriers, we couldn’t ask what happened before the accident. (…) A Kazakh worker communicated with a Russian worker in Russian, the Russian worker relayed the message to an Indian worker in English, and the Indian worker provided instructions to the Nepalese worker using a translation app.”