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New Report Sheds Light on Health and Safety Concerns of Palestinian Construction Workers in Israel

Kav LaOved’s new report reveals a troubling reality for Palestinian construction workers, with 85% reporting work-related mental health struggles, 62% experiencing abusive behavior in the workplace and only 2% receiving ecessary protective equipment

עובדים פלסטינים ממתינים במעבר ארז לכניסה לישראל (צילום: עטיה מוחמד/פלאש90)
Palestinian workers wait to enter Israel at the Erez crossing (Photo: Atia Mohammed/Flash90)
By Nizzan Zvi Cohen

According to a new report from the Israeli worker’s rights organization Kav LaOved, 99.6% of Palestinian workers in Israel’s construction industry report that their work has affected their health to a large or very large extent. Kav LaOved published the report in anticipation of a roundtable meeting on the health of Palestinian workers, with representatives from the Ministry of Economy’s Directorate General of Labor, the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, and Kav LaOved itself.

The report sheds light on the harsh conditions facing the nearly 100,000 Palestinian workers who work legally in Israel, and especially the 37,000 working in the construction industry. Among other health issues, 75% of Palestinian construction workers surveyed reported work-related headaches, 51% reported joint problems, 38% reported knee pain, 36% reported back problems, 36% reported leg problems, 24% reported eye problems, 18% reported breathing problems, and 15% reported chronic pain.The study was based on a survey of 256 Palestinian construction workers over the age of 30 working in Israel. In addition to the survey, the researchers conducted six open interviews with workers in Hebron, Bethlehem and Jerusalem; gathered a focus group with six construction workers held in Tulkarm, a Palestinian city in the West Bank; worked with a steering committee of Palestinian activists; and held additional interviews with doctors and psychologists. According to the findings, 56% of workers did not recall ever having been spoken to about the possible effects of their work on their health, 28% had heard about workplace health effects from an external source such as a doctor, the media, or a relative, 14% had never heard of such a thing, and only 2% had been spoken to about it at their workplace.

According to the safety expert from the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene with whom Kav LaOved consulted in writing the report, the main physical risk factors facing construction workers include ergonomic factors, physical factors (such as vibration, noise, climatic conditions and infrared radiation), and exposure to chemical substances including paints, cement, adhesives, and various types of dust.

Ninety-nine percent of the workers who responded to the survey reported being exposed to hazardous materials at work. Only 58.1% of the respondents said that they know who to contact if they have a question about protecting themselves from hazardous material or dealing with exposure to hazardous materials. Only 2% of workers reported receiving all the protective equipment they need while working with hazardous materials, while 74% reported receiving only some of the necessary protective equipment and 23% reported not receiving any necessary protective equipment.

The study revealed significant psychosocial risk factors as well, which may also worsen physical morbidity. Eighty-five percent of the respondents said that they are anxious and worried about their work, 82% said they were tired, 77% said they were nervous, 61% said they were stressed, 55% said they were frustrated, 42% said they were worn out, and 31% said they missed their family. Less than 1% of survey respondents answered that they felt emotional or economic satisfaction, and none of the respondents responded that they were happy. Ninety-seven percent of workers reported that their mood was negatively affected by their workplace, either directly or indirectly, to a large or very large extent.

The survey also found that 70% of the workers had experienced an event during their work that affected their mental state and led to insomnia. Thirty-six percent reported an event at work that led to difficulty breathing, 28% reported an event that led to chest tightness, 12% reported an event that led to a rapid heartbeat, and 40% reported an event that affected their mental state and led to other physical symptoms.

The report explains these remarkably high rates of mental stress and their accompanying physical symptoms in part by pointing out the intense economic dependence of Palestinian workers on their employment in Israel, and the concern that dismissal from any given job may lead to a revocation of the work permit that allows them to work in Israel. On average, a job in Israel earns a Palestinian more than double what they would make working in the West Bank. Some construction workers interviewed also shared that they had academic degrees but were working in the construction industry in light of the limited employment and income opportunities in the professions they studied.

In order to be legally employed in Israel, many Palestinians pay middlemen a monthly fee for access to work permits. The Palestinian middlemen who provide these permits – and revoke them if the worker fails to pay the monthly fee – work in tandem, and share their profits, with Israeli contractors. Legally, work permits are meant to be provided by the specific company employing each Palestinian worker and are not meant to cost anything to the worker, but in practice the system of buying and selling work permits has become heavily entrenched. About half of the survey respondents reported relying on this system in order to receive a permit to work in Israel. Of the respondents who pay for a work permit, 81% pay 2,000-3,000 shekels ($590-$880) a month, 17% pay 1,000-2,000 shekels ($290-$590) a month, and 2% pay 3,000-4,000 ($880-$1180) shekels a month. This system forces the workers to work even while they are sick, because if they miss work, they will not be able to pay the permit traders the monthly payment and will have their permit revoked, thus preventing them from being able to support their families in the future.

“I have a commitment to pay about 120 shekels ($35) a day for my permit, whether I work or not,” one of the surveyed workers testified. “So imagine that you’re out of work for a week or two, and then the week comes when you have to pay. I’m stressed and anxious when there’s no work. Because of the stress, I can’t even sleep. You’re constantly thinking about what you’re going to do and how you’re going to manage. It causes a lot of stress.”

In addition to paying for work permits, Palestinian workers are also forced to cross checkpoints and travel long routes in order to work in Israel, which many workers reported as factors that increase their stress. Seventy percent of the respondents noted that passing through a checkpoint directly affects their mental state to a large extent, and 26% responded that it affects their mental state to a very great extent. Only 3% responded that having to pass through a checkpoint affects them only moderately. One of the interviewees, who enters Israel through Checkpoint 300, one of Israel’s busiest checkpoints, noted that the sight of thousands of workers waiting to enter through the checkpoint causes his blood pressure to rise and makes him feel that he will be crushed. “There were times when I would see how crowded it was in the aisle and I would leave or walk away. I couldn’t do it. Many times I went home and didn’t work because of the overcrowding,” he testified. Another interviewee, who enters Israel through the  Tarqumiyah checkpoint northwest of Hebron, testified that the intense overcrowding made him feel like his bones were being broken.

Some of the interviewees referred to crossing the checkpoint as an additional work shift and said that they find it difficult to concentrate on their work afterwards. Many reported that the lengthy and humiliating process of entry into Israel negatively affects their functioning, including their ability to concentrate on work and to maintain their health and safety while working. Ninety-eight percent of the survey respondents said that it takes them between two and four hours to reach their workplace after leaving home. “It’s also fatigue. A person who wakes up at 3:00 a.m. will be unintentionally negligent because he is so tired,” said one of the workers.

Palestinian workers also reported safety concerns and the behavior of their managers as additional factors increasing their stress. Sixty-two percent of the workers who responded to the survey said that they had experienced abusive treatment in the workplace, including swearing, shouting, humiliation, and throwing objects. Another 32% reported witnessing abusive behavior directed towards another employee. Forty-seven percent of the respondents reported that they witness or experience abusive treatment on a weekly basis, 29% said that they witness or experience such treatment at least once a month, and 21% reported that witnessing or experiencing such treatment is their daily routine.

The survey asked workers whether their workplaces adhere to the policies and procedures at work meant to maintain their health and safety, including breaks, restrictions on carrying weights, and safety inspectors. Sixty-four percent of the workers surveyed reported that their workplaces do so only rarely. Thirty-three percent said that their workplaces do not adhere to such policies at all, and only 3% said that they often adhere to them. The participants in the focus group expressed the sense that they were responsible for their own safety and that it was their responsibility to avoid being harmed at work. “There’s no job without risks, but the individual needs to maintain their health as much as possible. If the company or contractor you work with doesn’t look after you, you have to take care of yourself,” one of the workers said.

The report also highlighted the difficulties Palestinian workers face in exercising their rights to sick days and medical treatment. Although 97% of Palestinian workers said in the survey that they are aware that they can receive payment for sick days under Israeli law, in practice, many workers reported fear of taking a day off. This dynamic was especially present for those workers who must pay monthly fees for their work permits. Only 18% of the employees surveyed reported that they had received sick days from their employer in the past year and been paid for those days. Fifty-nine percent of the workers reported that they had requested sick days and were not paid for those days, and 3% reported that they had not asked for a sick day at all.

This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz.

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