Hispanic Workers' Safety: Looking at the Big Picture

Transcription

1 Session No. 644 Hispanic Workers' Safety: Looking at the Big Picture Luz Stella Marín Sc.D. Postdoctoral Researcher Northeastern University Lizzette Vargas-Malpica, CSP LBRE Safety Manager Stanford University Background I have attended several trainings and of course I understand how we must work to prevent falls. During the training, we can wear different body harnesses and the instructor explain to us very well how we can use But then when you go back to the worksite, you don t find all those elements that they showed you during the training. If you ask for them, they [contractor/supervisor] get upset I know that it is good to know how we must protect ourselves, but sometime I think I am wasting my time. Why do I need to attend more training if when I back to work, the contractor isn t providing us with harnesses or other things we need to work safer? Hispanic construction worker They also said that when we need to work in a ladder and we don t have a way to tie it to the wall, we must work in groups. Somebody has to hold the ladder while you are on it working. But when you are in the workplace, the supervisor doesn t allow you to work with other mate. They said I pay you for working not for holding a ladder. If you can t do the work by yourself just let me know and I will find other one. Hispanic construction worker Those quotes from the Proteccion en Construction program show some realities faced by a significant number of Hispanic workers (PenC Program). Moreover, a quick glimpse of the investigations of fatal occupational injuries among Hispanic workers conducted by the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program provides interesting input about contributing factors such as (1) inappropriate fall arrest system anchorage method; (2)failure to consider and prepare for the environmental conditions of the work area; (3)a work procedure that requires workers to enter the trash truck bed during and after loading operations, where they are

2 exposed to potential fall hazards; and (4) use of conductive ladders in proximity to energized overhead power lines and so on (NIOSH 2015). Although some recommendations emphasize the importance of providing training in the workers language, most of the contributing factors lie at the organizational level. Lack of proficiency in English might be an immediate factor, but it is not always a root cause of injuries among Hispanic workers. Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. workforce, with 23.3 million at work representing nearly 16% of the labor force (NCR 2015). It is anticipated that by 2050, one in three workers in the U.S. will be Hispanic. Hispanic workers are more likely to work in bluecollar jobs in the service, construction, farming, forestry, and fishing sectors (Levy 72). Furthermore, low-wage workers are more likely to be female, young, black, and/or Hispanic and working in hazardous industries (Levy 70). In this document, we adopt the perspective of social ecological theory that emphasizes the importance of multiple levels of influence in order to analyze the big picture of disparities in health and safety conditions faced by Hispanic workers. Hispanic Workers According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Hispanic workers account for 16.1% of the total work force in the country (BLS 2014). In 2013, 4,405 workers were killed on the job (3.2 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers) on average, 85 a week or more than 12 deaths every day. Of those, 797 Hispanic or Hispanic workers were killed from work-related injuries on average, more than 15 deaths a week or two Hispanic workers killed every single day of the year, all year long (BLS 2013). Considering that Hispanic workers comprise one of the largest minority groups in the US workforce, there is an imperative need to examine and understand these disparities in order to address potential multiples causes of these persistent disparities work-related injuries. Since Hispanic workers will continue to play an important role in the U.S. economy, a more systematic effort should be made to confront the disproportionate number of fatalities among Hispanic construction workers. Employers need to look into their organizational culture and safety programs to ensure that the proper conditions are provided to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. Unfortunately, language barriers and cultural factors continue to be used as sophism of distraction to the real causes of these high injury and fatality rates. To the degree that employers are consistent with their safety management system, these will be more likely to properly address the new challenges posed by an increasingly diverse workforce by training their workers to overcome language and cultural barriers at the jobsite. It has been established that language and cultural factors are not the cause of these high rates (Roelofs 1). Therefore, more emphasis must be placed on to the real causes and to the big picture at employers organizational and regulatory level that allow for these injuries and fatalities to happen. Regulatory Factors Beyond idiosyncrasy factors, which are specific to each community or group, organizational, social, and policy-making factors must be examined given their correlation to health and safety

3 outcomes. Organizational practices and policies may restrict workers adoption of safe work practices and behaviors. Studies conducted with Hispanic workers have put forward diverse reasons at the organizational, policy-making, and social levels for explaining the fatality and injury rate disparity. Hispanic workers, for instance, are heavily concentrated in certain industries and sectors such as construction, repair and maintenance, health care, and transportation. Those industries also have a higher number of non-fatal, severe, and fatal injury rates. Inequalities in work-related injuries are a result from inequalities in workplace exposures (Levy 77). The BLS Number and rate of fatal occupational injuries, by industry sector, 2013* chart, reflects the count of fatal injuries by industry (see Exhibit 1). Exhibit 1: Number and rate of fatal occupational injuries, by industry sector, 2013*. BLS. Incidentally, Hispanic workers are also concentrated in industries with the highest prevalence of labor law violations such as manufacturing, agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, and construction. According to Benach, et. al., the most common violations in these industries include wage theft, poor recordkeeping, youth employment violations, inadequate sanitation, scaffolding hazards, inadequate fall protection, and insufficient hazard communication (Benach 338) Moreover, the Hispanic workers are left susceptible to exploitation and questionable job quality due to the existing immigration policy and the weak penalties for employer law violations, which in turn prevent Hispanics from exercising their workers rights (Benach 338; Singley 2009). For instance, Hispanic construction workers reported a difficult work environment characterized by supervisor pressure, competition for jobs, and intimidation with regard to raising safety concerns to their bosses (Roelofs 1).

4 Additionally, Hispanic workers tend to be employed mostly in informal sectors that provide limited legal protection, as they are excluded from certain labor rights and protective regulations (Singley 2009). Organizational Factors Safety management utilizes both preventive and corrective actions in order to continuously improve the working environment. The objective of safety management systems is to manage the planning and implementation of a company s safety policy and goals (Koivupalo 128). Recognition, analysis and control of occupational hazards are primarily a top management responsibility as is the creation of communication channels for worker participation. The lack or inadequate development and implementations of safety management systems are reflected in the inability to effectively provide a reasonable and safe work environment. Often times the employees are the ones to blame when an accident or incident takes place. Furthermore, when it comes to Hispanic workers, language and cultural barriers are also to blame. As mentioned earlier, these barriers are a sophism of distraction to the real causes of occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Instead occupational and operations factors require special attention because they create the systematic issues that allowed those injuries and fatalities to take place. As Petersen states, an unsafe act, an unsafe condition an accident: all these are symptoms that something is wrong in the management system. (Petersen 2011). However, several fatal and accident investigations show that deficiencies in the implementation of safety management systems may be a contributing factor of high injuries among Hispanic workers. Insufficient identification and control of hazards, deficiencies in identifying workers, safety knowledge gaps, and lack of appropriate safety training honoring language and educational education level barriers may be additional contributing factors. An organization unable to provide and support the health and safety requirements and needs of the working population may be exacerbating the inherent hazards of the work. According to Petersen: the fundamental root causes of accidents are also fundamental root causes of other management and operational problems (Petersen 2003). In light of establishing safety management systems, management commitment to safety is a necessary element to improve and sustain a safe working environment and culture. Employers can implement new principles of safety management that allow for sustainable systematic improvements. For example, Blair states that focusing on distal causes and not proximal causes of injuries, even though more difficult, usually leads to more lasting solutions with greater reach. Solutions for accident prevention need to stop blaming the Hispanic workers culture and language barriers. Instead, addressing the system failures and providing hard-fix interventions is more likely to eliminate problems at higher control levels than relying on error free processes and environments (Blair 2014). Another aspect is the selection of supervisors that can enforce the message of management, and identify train and support outstanding employees. Selection should not be based only commitment and productivity levels but also because the select individuals can understand, coach and influence coworkers compassionately to follow safety procedures. Moreover, encouraging active employee participation and assigning leadership roles in the decision making and planning process when establishing safety measures and policies is crucial. These measures, controls and policies will be more meaningful to the Hispanic workers and will empower them to adopt and embrace changes, eventually eliminating the inequality.

5 Conclusion High injury rates among Hispanic workers are a problem of national importance. These injury rates impose a substantial economic and social burden. As the nature of the market labor changes, the central themes revolve around the safety and health of Hispanic workers. The consequences of high fatalities and severe injury rates among Hispanic workers justify a broad, coherent effort to encourage organizations to implement preventive strategies. To extend the current analysis relating Hispanic workers safety, characterization of occupational exposures associated with fatal and severe injuries justify a more comprehensive approach at the organizational and societal level. Although a number of individual and cultural characteristics appear to affect the vulnerability of Hispanic workers, these factors must be analyzed under the lens of the organizational and societal factors. Some suggestions to improve occupational safety and health among Hispanic workers include to develop practical and consistent tools to reduce their exposure to the most hazardous tasks and to adapt safety interventions to fit the needs and characteristics of Hispanic workers. Bibliography Benach J., Muntaner, C., Chung, H., & Benavides, FG. (2010). Immigration, employment relations and health: Developing a research agenda. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 53: Blair, E Safety Interventions: Strategies for Effective Design. Professional Safety, November Ed. Lopez, M,; Gonzalez-Barrera, A.; Cuddington, D. Pew Center Diverse Origins: The Nation s 14 Largest Hispanic-Origin Groups. June 19, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employer-Reported Workplace Injury and Illness Summary. News Release: Employer-Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses Bureau of Labor Statistics. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Charts, (preliminary data). Bureau of Labor Statistics. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, Retrieved September 11, 2014 Economy and Workforce. National Council La Raza (NCR). Retrieved February, Koivupalo, M.; Sulasalmi, M.; Rodrigo, P.; Vayrynen, S. Health and Safety Management in a Changing Organisation: Case Study Global Steel Company. Safety Science 2015,

6 NIOSH. Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program. Retrieved March Levy, B.S.; Wegman, D.H.; Baron, S. L; Sokas, R.K.Occupational and Enviromental Health. Recognizing and Preventing Disease and Injury. Sixth Edition. New York. Oxford University Press, Petersen, D. Safety Management: A Human Approach., Third Edition. American Society of Safety Engineers, Petersen, D. Techniques of Safety Management: A Systems Approach. Fourth Edition. American Society of Safety Engineers, Protección en Construcción. NIOSH Grant No.R01-OH Roelofs, C, Sprangue-Martinez, L, Brunette, M. & Azaroff, L. A Quantitative Investigation of Hispanic Construction Worker Perspectives on Factors Impacting Worksite Safety and Risk. Environ Health :84. ( Singley, C. (2009). Fractures in the Foundation: The Latino Worker s Experience in an Era of Declining Job Quality. Research report prepared for National Council of La Raza.