Keeping Spanish-Speaking Workers Safe

By Zeke Haslam AIHA Board of Directors

Did you know that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the death rate for Hispanic workers climbed 11 percent in 2000 and 9 percent in 2001? The issue of Spanish-speaking (and other non-English-speaking) workers isn’t going to go away anytime soon; working on the front lines of occupational health and safety, AIHA members are in a good position to do something about these dismal statistics.

Multilingual outreach has been a special emphasis of OSHA under John Henshaw. The agency has earmarked new funding for Spanish-language programs, services and collaborative efforts at both national and local levels and continues to add Spanish-language materials to its Web site. Given that AIHA has developed an alliance with OSHA, I believe we have an excellent opportunity to support and take part in OSHA’s efforts to improve the health and safety of Hispanic workers.

The AIHA Minority Special Interest Group has had several discussions about the best way to approach this issue. Initially, we had hoped to develop a PDC in cooperation with OSHA personnel to assist AIHA members in better communicating with and protecting Spanish- speaking workers. Unfortunately, OSHA staff are extremely pressed for time, and we haven’t been able to get the project off the ground as quickly as we had hoped. The SIG will continue to pursue the PDC project on its own, but we hope to have the opportunity to work with OSHA on something similar in the future. Thinking Outside the English-Speaking Box

The SIG is also going to develop a task force to brainstorm further ideas. For instance, can we capitalize on the expertise of AIHA’s bilingual members to translate resources for Spanish- speaking workers that we could then make available to OSHA and the community? Are there new ways we can market and distribute our Spanish-language Operation Outreach brochures? Can we make Spanish more visible at AIHce, perhaps through Spanish-language signs and messages geared toward reducing fatalities in this population?

The AIHce 2004 program already shows several excellent steps in this direction with a full-day Spanish language PDC on “Leading Leaders: The Real Role of the EH&S Professional” and a Spanish-language roundtable on “Sharing Excellence: Practical Industrial Hygiene Experiences Among Spanish-Speaking Professionals.” AIHce 2002 featured another Spanish-language roundtable and a roundtable on communications issues with migrant workforces. The Synergist will also be contributing to the discussion, with two articles next month focusing on this very important topic. Getting in Front of the Issue Right now, AIHA members have an opportunity to be ahead of the curve on a very important issue. Concerns over Spanish and other non-English-speaking workers are only going to increase; the Hispanic workforce is projected to increase by one-third over the next 10 years. Also, as companies move into the global marketplace, IHs will increasingly find themselves supporting operations at locations around the world. Of course, Spanish-speaking workers who come to the United States develop English skills over time, but safety is vital from their first day on the job, and language is only one barrier that must be overcome. Cultural issues are also important to understand and compensate for—or even the most perfectly translated document can be ineffective at protecting workers.

The Minority SIG’s Spanish-Speaking Worker Safety and Health Initiatives Task Force will meet for the first time at AIHce 2004 in Atlanta. If you have an interest in this important issue, please consider attending our meeting. Watch www.aiha.org/aihce.htm for details, or contact me at [email protected] for more information.

Even if you can’t attend the brainstorming session, if you speak a second language and are interested in assisting with the translation of materials for non-English-speaking workers, please contact Hannah-Marie Miller, chair of the Minority SIG, at [email protected]. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated by the SIG and by the workers that you’ll be helping to protect.

Haslam, a CIH, is EHS manager for Duke Energy, Charlotte, N.C.