SAFETY PROFESSIONALS TAKE STEPS TO ADDRESS INCREASE IN LATINO WORKFORCE

[Guest guest]

American Society of Safety Engineers News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SAFETY PROFESSIONALS TAKE STEPS TO ADDRESS INCREASE IN LATINO WORKFORCE

INJURIES, FATALITIES

LAS VEGAS, NV (June 10, 2004) - The American Society of Safety

Engineers (ASSE) has taken several steps this week to address the

growing

problem of increased workplace injuries and fatalities in the Latino

workforce.

Even though private injury and illness rates dropped 35 percent

between 1992 and 2001, fatalities among Latino workers in the U.S.

increased by 67 percent during the same period. And even though Latino

fatalities decreased by six percent in 2002, the 840 deaths in 2002

represent the second highest annual total of Latino worker fatalities

recorded by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to date.

At ASSE's annual Professional Development Conference (PDC) for

occupational safety, health and environmental professionals being held

this

week in Las Vegas, the ASSE board approved the formation of a new

" Safety

Professionals and the Latino Workforce " (SPALW) common interest group.

On

Tuesday afternoon close to 60 ASSE members from all industries and

regions

of the U.S. attended SPALW's first meeting and discussed such issues as

lagging translations, hands-on training versus textbook, and overcoming

the

cultural and language barriers. They also discussed how to work together

to

identify and develop resources to increase safety for the Latino

workforce.

SPALW is open to ASSE members and non-members and is chaired by

ASSE

member Escarcega.

In his keynote address to ASSE members at the PDC June 9, National

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Director Dr.

said, " The flow of immigrants in the U.S. is both responsible for

increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of the American workforce,

but

more than that it is responsible for challenging our ability to create a

transcultural workplace safety paradigm in the U.S. - emphasizing risk

communication strategies that are responsive to the multi-cultural

composition of the American workforce.

" Latino workforce safety is a national, regional, state and local

safety issue, " Dr. continued. " Data from the 2000 Census tells us

that the transcultural challenges in occupational safety are not limited

to

those states traditionally associated with large Latino populations -

such

as California, Texas, New York and Florida. Rather, the challenge of

developing culturally integrated approaches to workplace safety will

impact

numerous other states not known for large Latino populations such as

North

Carolina, Minnesota, Nebraska, Arkansas, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee,

Alabama and South Carolina. "

ASSE is working with such groups as NIOSH and the Occupational

Safety

and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop risk communications that

build

on workers' cultural values; that are effective without assuming a

'standard' educational attainment on the part of the worker; and a risk

communication paradigm that incorporates hands-on demonstrations of

safety

principles instead of relying on a worker's oral or written language

literacy.

During the ASSE PDC some sessions were presented in Spanish and

some

were directed at those with a Latino workforce such as the sessions

titled

" Training and Communication Skills for Developing a Safety Culture, "

" You

Don't Have to Speak Spanish to Communicate with Your Spanish Speaking

Workforce, " and " How to Understand and Apply OSHA's Fall Protection

Standard. " One day training classes were held for Latino workers in

conjunction with the PDC as well.

Several resources now available that address increasing workplace

safety for Latino workers include OSHA's Spanish-language web site

www.osha.gov/as/opa/spanish/index.html, and NIOSH's Spanish web site at

www.cdc.gov/spanish/niosh. ASSE Professional Safety Journal's June 2004

feature article titled " Latino Workers in the Construction Industry -

Overcoming the language barrier improves safety " by R. Vazques

and

C. Stalnaker also provides information on resources and techniques

for reducing injuries among Latino workers.

Founded in 1911, ASSE is committed to protecting people, property

and

the environment. Its more than 30,000 members manage, supervise,

research

and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues

in

all industries, government, labor and education. Check www.asse.org or

contact customerservice@... for more information on how to

participate

in the new ASSE 'Safety Professionals and Latino Workforce' common

interest

group.

-- 30 --

Contact: Diane Hurns, 847-768-3413;dhurns@...; Las Vegas

-702-943-3529

--

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