Latest research and knowledge exchange news at Bournemouth University
Today, Sunday 9th June, our paper ‘Health and well-being of Nepalese migrant workers abroad was highlighted by ResearchGate as being widely read. 
This scientific paper which was part of Dr. Pratik Adhikary’s PhD study in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences has been read 1,000 times.
With the men’s FIFA football world cup starting on Sunday in Qatar it important to remember the human costs of those who build the infrastructure. The media coverage on the number of workers dying during the building of the football stadiums has highlighted the plight of foreign workers in the Middle East more generally. For example, BU’s researcher Dr. Nirmal Aryal was cited in The Sunday Times in an article with the title ‘Qatar 2022: Dying for the World Cup”, see the BU Research Blog published this time last year.
Here at BU we have conducted several studies into Nepali migrant workers, including those working in Qatar and elsewhere in the Middle East [1-13]. In the Middle East working conditions for foreign labourers are often Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult (commonly referred at as the 3Ds). Migrant workers often perform physically demanding work in a hot unprotected environment, suffer dehydration and/or exposure to chemical, excessive use of pain killers, and unhealthy lifestyle factors (such as restricted water intake and a high intake of alcohol/sugary drinks) which may precipitate them to acute kidney injuries and subsequent chronic kidney disease [1]. Dr. Regmi and colleagues in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences are currently conducting a study into the kidney health of Nepalese migrant workers. This study is funded by the Colt Foundation.
From our work, we can say that in addition to the 3Ds, migrant workers are likely to experience a series of other challenges ranging from language and other cultural barriers, socio-economic problems and issues to do with their legal status, to a lack of health and safety training, difficulties in gaining access
to health services. If you have limited injury compensation in your line of work, a work injury attorney can answer commonly asked questions like “can employer make employee pay for accident?”
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen
CMMPH
References:
Yesterday the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health published the final version of Dr. Pratik Adhikary’s paper ‘Workplace Accidents Among Nepali Male Workers in the Middle East and Malaysia: A Qualitative Study’ [1]. This is the fourth paper originating from Pratik’s Ph.D. research conducted in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, the first three papers appeared in the period 2011-2018 [2-4].
The paper highlights that many Nepali men work in the Middle East and Malaysia and media reports and anecdotal evidence suggests they are at a high risk of workplace-related accidents and injuries for male Nepali workers. Pratik’s Ph.D. study used face-to-face interviews to explore the personal experiences of twenty male Nepali migrants of unintentional injuries at their place of work. His study found that almost half of study participants experienced work-related accident abroad. The Participants suggested that the reasons behind this are not only health and safety at work but also poor communication, taking risks by workers themselves, and perceived work pressure. Some participants experienced serious incidents causing life-long disability, extreme and harrowing accounts of injury but received no support from their employer or host countries.
The paper concludes that Nepali migrant workers are at a high risk of occupational injuries owing to a number of interrelated factors poor health and safety at work, pressure of work, risk taking practices, language barriers, and their general work environment. Both the Government of Nepal and host countries need to be better policing existing policies; introduce better legislation where necessary; ensure universal health (insurance) coverage for labour migrants; and improve preventive measures to minimize the number and severity of accidents and injuries among migrant workers.
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On 3rd and 4th September this year, BU will be hosting the prestigious Occupational Science Europe conference, which we have entitled Health and Wellbeing through Occupation. We will welcome delegates and speakers from North America, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Mainland Europe, Ireland and the UK. This is the first time that BU has hosted such an event and we have compiled an innovative and exciting programme. Keynote presentations will focus on how to achieve health and wellbeing through what people do, the rights and justice of health, the daily activities of gypsies and travellers and also on what research into the well elderly tells us about promoting health and wellbeing through occupation.
Occupational science is the study of what people do in everyday life and is influenced by a range of disciplines, including anthropology, human geography, psychology, sociology, public health and is one of the underpinning sciences for the profession of occupational therapy. BU is proud to host the conference with world-renowned keynote speakers that will challenge and discuss the research that informs occupational science.
As well as welcoming a range of international and national speakers, a number of BU academics and PhD students from different disciplines will present at the conference on a variety of topics such as the lifestyle of adults with low vision, sexual well-being for adults with physical disabilities, post-bereavement occupations of those bereaved by suicide, everyday life with a long-term condition, older people’s involvement in community exercise programmes, public health and wellbeing practice, craft practice for new mothers, enhancing well-being through arts-based research quilting as a meaningful reflective tool in research the role of volunteering, health and wellbeing at home and the symbolic construction of health in Roman Britain.
There are still a few places available at the conference, although registration closes on Friday 28 August 2015. For more information, please e-mail occupation@bournemouth.ac.uk and go to:
https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/oseconf/conference-details/programme/
If you are passing Kimmeridge House on 3rd and 4th September, please feel free to visit the sandpit of ideas and occupational science patchwork installations!
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