Construction workers globally face disproportionate threats to health and wellbeing, constituted by the nature of the work they perform. The workplace fatalities and lost-time injuries experienced by construction workers are significantly greater than in other forms of work. This paper draws on the culture-centered approach (CCA) to dialogically articulate meanings of workplace risks and injuries, voiced by Bangladeshi migrant construction workers in Singapore. The narratives voiced by the participants suggest an ecological approach to workplace injuries in the construction industries, attending to food insecurity, lack of sleep, transportation, etc. as contextual features of work that shape the risks experienced at work. Moreover, participant voices point to the barriers in communication, lack of understanding, and experiences of incivility as features of work that constitute the ways in which they experience injury risks. The overarching discourses of productivity and efficiency constitute a broader climate of threats to worker safety and health. © 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Workplace safety Migration Workplace risks Culture-centered approach Injury Health

sleep deprivation comprehension Caucasian building industry health disparity Health Status Disparities interpersonal communication human injury statistics and numerical data Singapore [Southeast Asia] construction industry insomnia migrant worker productivity Humans workplace occupational accident confusion (uncertainty) labor migration safety occupational safety cultural factor Article help seeking behavior Transportation migration traffic and transport construction worker European Continental Ancestry Group Singapore Bangladeshi food insecurity occupational health Transients and Migrants occupational hazard Fatigue Accidents, Occupational public health