The ‘Long Tail’ of Work-Related Injury: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of New Zealand Migrant Women

Migrant women contribute significantly to the international and New Zealand (NZ) workforce, including in gendered occupations such as healthcare/social assistance, retail/hospitality and education. Such occupations may be characterized by caring and service-related interactions, precarity, low pay and societal devaluation of the work. Work-related injuries (WRIs) can have a profound impact on workers’ health and wellbeing. Previous studies have primarily focused on the experiences of migrant men (in male-dominated occupations) with little attention to migrant women’s WRI experiences. To address this knowledge gap, in-depth interviews were undertaken with ten migrant women previously recruited into the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study who registered a WRI with the Accident Compensation Corporation (NZ’s ‘no fault’ injury compensation scheme). Data were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, with two themes generated: 1) ‘Locating the WRI’ , the foregrounding of WRIs, including managing workplace psychosocial hazards and professional identities and, 2) Coping with ‘the long tail’ (of WRI) including navigating injury supports/services and changing work opportunities following injury. Interviewees reported workplace psychosocial hazards contributed to injury incidence, lack of injury acknowledgment and negative return to work experiences post-injury. Sustaining a WRI whilst registering professional qualifications in NZ resulted in [unwarranted] changes to career pathways, highlighting a potential inequity for migrant women. Injury services should act to mitigate the impact of such outcomes, thus supporting ongoing employment and career pathways of migrant women. Research is needed to investigate the extent and impact of identified WRI inequities for migrant women in other countries, including those with different injury support services.