I have recently taken up a H&S position in a processing factory where 75% of the workforce are migrant workers with litttle or no command of written or verbal english. We are looking into effective communication within the workforce. The first thing I have put in place is a stop to be put on employing people who do not have a reasonable command for the english language. This is done through the application and interview process where applicants level of english is assessed. Before I implement this process I would like to know if this is legal from an employment point of view. When producing H&S document we rely heavily on the few who have a command for english to translate them for us however this is not always effective. We have transferred a lot of our instructions into pictorial form to help. Does anyone have any ideas on how I can tackle this subject as cost effectively as possible. I know that as things stands it wold look as if we as a company are failing in our duty of care as 95% of documentation is in English only but unfortunately this is a problem which I have inherited. I dont know where to start. Suggestions please!

We have our documents translated into a number of languages. You can complete some through your own computer the rest we have to send off.