work

The government has taken the first step to relaxing the restrictions on post-study work visas for international students in the UK.

In the past, internationals were given free access to work in the UK for 2 years after graduating, but this was closed in April last year. In its place, a whole raft of new regulations were introduced, all related to the job offer students had lined up for after they graduated. International students had to have an offer of a job relevant to their degree, with a high starting salary and at a company registered with the government for the scheme.

Ever since their introduction, the tighter restrictions have been met with widespread opposition from leading figures in higher education who have argued that they will put international students off from studying in the UK.

Even as a student working at a part-time job, your employer is legally responsible for your safety while you are on the clock. Under the RIDDOR laws, which specify health and safety regulations in the workplace, your employer is required to provide a safe work environment and also to report any accidents if they occur.

Of course, nobody plans to have an accident. But they can happen in even the safest workplaces. Read on to learn more about the types of accidents that may occur on the job and what you can do if one happens to you.

What is RIDDOR?

Established in 1995, RIDDOR refers to a national law that clearly defines the types of accidents that need to be reported if they occur in the work place. RIDDOR stands for Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations. It specifies the types of reportable incidents and provides a system of protocol for reporting them.

For India Week, volunteer Sina Rohani describes his experiences of working with children in India. 

"After 5 months in India I wish to share with you some of the experiences from my voluntary service at the Baha'i Rabbani School. I highly recommend all of you to get out of your comfort zone and offer the skills, ideas and energy you have to enrich the lives of others.

The majority of the Indian population will never leave India and in some cases their own town, so when a foreigner comes to their rural village in the middle of nowhere, it is a refreshing breeze and an open window to the rest of the world which they may otherwise never see.

I was a teaching at the Rabbani Baha'i School, where the students come from very poor local villages, the school is one of the cheapest in the state at about $200 for the year, which includes food, accommodation and a state recognized education syllabus.

A New Illiteracy

These children are some of the first to be given education in their families. Illiteracy is decreasing, but a new illiteracy is stopping these children from getting the job opportunities they deserve- their lack of English and computer skills.

As part of India Week, Alex Hayim, a chartered surveyor, describes his experiences of working in real estate in India.

"...and so after years of selling UK real estate to the next big fund or property company I decided that it was time to get out of the comfort zone and head East.

I had always been drawn to India - perhaps in part due to my historic family connections and in part the sheer vibrancy and scale of the place. India was being discussed as the next big thing behind China and I wanted a piece of the action.

It was 2005 and the Foreign Direct Investment route into India had finally opened for non-Indian property companies. With the global market hugely optimistic, all the big Western ‘players' were looking for the next big market to invest in. China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam.

And then there was India with its population of over 1 billion, burgeoning middle-class, cracking but improving infrastructure, highly educated workforce, historic connections and sheer work ethic and warmth of population.

I had been hired by a well-known British property company to go and help set-up their business in India, and it was Mumbai rather than Delhi or Bangalore that was to be home for the next four years.