For the past two decades, thousands of employees have died each year from fatal occupational injuries. For the period between 2001 and 2006, this trend has moved upwards, reaching 5,840 total fatalities recorded in 2006. Of these, almost 17 percent or 990 were fatal work injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers, of which 67 percent or 667 were foreign-born Latino workers. Studies of fatal accidents investigated by OSHA suggest that contributing factors for such high rate of fatalities among Hispanic workers are that the workers did not speak English, did not understand the language by the employer or other workers, and had limited or no training.
While there are hundreds of OSHA standards requiring safety training and Directives requiring that effective training take effect, including in the native language of the workers, many employers are not aware of or are unable to deliver such training to their workers effectively.
This presentation will provide vital information that such employers and their safety professionals can use to procure safety training and information resources to enhance their safety training programs and increase employee awareness levels and, thus, reduce the risks of fatal injuries. This presentation will outline the challenges facing many non-English speaking employees in the U.S., will provide proven effective techniques to train Hispanic workers, and list many free training resources available to their employers and safety professionals servicing the Spanish-speaking community of workers. These will include resources from OSHA, educational institutions and professional organizations readily available to all interested parties.
According to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study release dated 12/07, the Latino workforce is projected to increase to almost 27 million workers, a growth of 29.9% from 2006 to 2016. Are you prepared?
Such demographic explosion comes with a human cost associated with higher rates of fatal injuries and accidents among the Hispanic and Latino workers in America. For the past fifteen years, over six thousand employees have died on average each year from occupational fatal injuries in the U.S. For the period between 2001 and 2006, this trend has moved upwards reaching 5,840 total fatalities as recorded in 2006 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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The sector with the most fatalities in 2006 was the construction industry, with 1,239 fatal accidents resulting in 354 Hispanic worker deaths (a 1 in 4 ratio). Other sectors with significant rates of fatalities among Hispanic workers in 2006 were manufacturing, agriculture and services, among others.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics established that the rate of fatalities in 2006 was around 5 per every 100,000 workers, but for the Hispanic population it was 25 percent higher than for the total worker population of the U.S., even though Hispanics only account for about 14 percent of the entire population of the U.S.
The problem is that the fatality rate among Hispanic workers is high and continues to rise at a disproportionately higher rate compared to the U. S. general worker population.
