Advice on communicating with non-english workers
workers from other countries are a fact of life, especially in London and the south east - and European Enlargement on 1 May may mean an additional influx of workers from eastern European countries who don't speak English very well.

So it's timely that a new report has appeared, advising site supervisors how to communicate with non-English speakers. Here are some tips for getting your message across.

Knock it on the head

  • Avoid idioms:
    "He's tied up right now"
    "We're dumping on the welders"
    "I wasn't born yesterday"
    "That's dodgy"
  • Avoid high-falluting lingo on signs. Which gets the message across more effectively?
    - The use of mobile phones is strictly prohibited in this vicinity
    - No phones!
    - or, better yet, a picture of a mobile with a red line through it
  • Don't use upper case for signs BECAUSE IT'S MUCH HARDER TO READ, ISN'T IT?
  • Give instructions the day before in writing so that the workers have plenty of time to work out what must be done.

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

The report was instigated by CITB/Construction Skills with the help of other groups. Download the full report from www.cilt.org.uk