fatalities among Mexican construction workers

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

Below is an excellent short article summarizing the principal causes of

fatal injuries amongst Mexican construction workers in the US. As you

will see, most of these items undoubtedly contribute to fatal and

non-fatal injuries amongst Latino farmworkers as well.

1/27/05

pfr@...

Rousmaniere

Risk and Insurance

Why are Hispanics dying on the job?

Why are Hispanic workers dying on the job at a rate much higher than

other workers? On average, every calendar day marks another Hispanic

work-related death that confirms this pattern, apparent for years. There

are, it turns out, a crowd of culprits.

In 2002 an eighteen year old construction worker, Huerta, was

building low income housing in North Carolina, when he fell to his death

from an unsafe platform atop the raised prongs of a forklift. The

circumstances of Huerta’s death reveal what is killing these workers at

a higher rate than others. Count the ten contributing factors.

One, there are more and more Hispanic workers here. Young Mexican and

other Hispanic men come to the United States to earn many times what

they could back home. Who are these men? A study published in 2004 in

the American Journal of Industrial Medicine reported that most Hispanic

construction workers were born outside the United States; one third have

been here for less than three years, and one third speak Spanish only.

They are ten times more likely to have left school before the 9th grade.

Two, Hispanic workers have been switching from agricultural to

construction work for higher pay and to avoid having to travel to the

harvests. Some bring to construction an independent mindset which might

work in farming but not so well in construction.

Three, Hispanic construction workers are relatively younger, hence less

work-experienced. (Huerto was 18 at his death). The disparity in

construction death rates between Hispanics and non-Hispanics is at its

highest in these green years – about double. The disparity declines with

age but never disappears.

Four, many of these workers are undocumented. They are concerned about

being deported. On top of their lack of experience is hesitancy about

demanding their safety rights.

Five, Huerta fell to his death. While falls are the most common

immediate cause of death for Hispanic and non-Hispanic construction

workers, death among Hispanics is noticeably more concentrated in falls,

but it is not yet clear why. Solving this puzzle might go hand in hand

with controlling some of these other contributing factors.

Six, many construction firms are small, and Hispanics appear to be

over-represented in their workforces.. Small employer size correlates

with higher fatality rate. This has been reported even in Denmark, where

I would expect safety standards to be tidily enforced throughout society.

Seven, Hispanics appear to be hired more readily by employers under

stress, with poor safety systems. Lighthall, Ph.D, who works in

the San Joaquin Valley and follows Hispanic workforces, has this to say:

“Contractors are subcontracting different jobs such as drywalling to

labor contractors who have become pretty much dependent on immigrant

workers, many of which are undocumented residents of Mexico. These

labor contractors have a strong incentive to get their workers to

complete the job as quickly as possible. This shift, driven by a high

degree of access to immigrant workers willing to work their tails off,

has the net effect of placing more stress on employers as well.”

Eight, many of these workers are hired curb-side. It is safe to say

this is unsafe. It does not allow for proper assessment of the worker’s

qualifications.

Nine, prime contractors cannot be expected to discipline sub-contractors

regarding safety if there is no shared insurance arrangements. Ten, it

might be a stretch to expect that safety inspectors can devote

sufficient resources to induce better safety practices among these small

firms, some of which may desperately need oversight. ( Huerta’s

employer was fined.)

How do we stop the brothers of Huerta from dying? Think: in 2010

we will have the second largest Hispanic population in the world.