How are language and culture considered in workplace OHS practices and interventions? A scoping review

Language proficiency and cultural background influence how immigrant workers access, understand and apply occupational health and safety (OHS) information, as well as how they perceive and respond to workplace risks. While existing literature has documented OHS disparities among immigrant workers and their association with language and culture, less attention has been paid to how workplaces design or implement linguistically and culturally responsive OHS practices. This scoping review synthesizes evidence on how language and culture are considered in workplace OHS practices (routine processes) and interventions (deliberate programs). Guided by Arksey & O'Malley's methodological framework, we screened 9,965 articles, of which 32 articles covering 31 independent studies, met the inclusion criteria. The findings indicate that workplace OHS practices often lacked the effective communication of safety information to immigrant and low-literacy workers, underscoring persistent challenges in conveying occupational risks to diverse workforces. Workplace OHS interventions incorporated some culturally and linguistically tailored approaches, such as bilingual materials, visual tools and peer mentoring, and generally reported positive outcomes, such as increase in safety knowledge compared to pre-intervention. However, important gaps remain. The review identified a critical disconnect between workplace OHS practices and research-led OHS interventions, raising concerns about the feasibility and sustainability of the latter in real-world, resource-constrained workplaces. The majority of studies were conducted in industrialized and wealthy countries, limiting their applicability across diverse cultural and economic settings. Finally, there is a need to address broader system-level barriers that compound language and culture to better support OHS of immigrant workers.