Occupational Fatalities among International Migrant Workers

This report provides an initial examination of available sources of data on migrant worker fatalities at the global, regional and country levels. The existence and quality of data are highly variable across countries, with knowledge concerning migrants mostly coming from middle- and high-income regions. Data on deaths of migrant workers in much of the developing world remain extremely scarce. The presence of relatively large informal sectors and loose health and safety regulation likely entail higher risks for native and migrant workers in regions of the world precisely where data are most lacking. However, poor quality and gaps in coverage limit the current usefulness of these data both for deepening understanding of trends and guiding intervention efforts. Measuring occupational fatalities is particularly challenging among undocumented and informal migrant populations, the groups most likely to have poor health and safety outcomes. Finally, although national population/labour statistics estimate that work-related diseases kill six times more people than fatal injuries, virtually no data are regularly and systematically produced at the national or international level documenting occupational diseases among migrants.