[1]LATINO FATALITIES FROM WORK INJURIES
...in the United States in 2006:
990 Hispanic workers in the U.S. were fatally injured on the job, a new series high.
This figure represents a 7% increase from the 923 fatalities reported in 2005.
Foreign-born Hispanic workers accounted for 667, or 67%, of these 990 fatalities.
The entire country had 5,840 fatal work injuries in 2006 - Hispanic worker fatalities accounted for 17% of them.
TOTAL FATAL OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES IN 2006
...in Connecticut:
White, non-Hispanic: 25
Black, non-Hispanic: 4
Hispanic: 7
...in Maine:
White, non-Hispanic: 20
...in Massachusetts:
White, non-Hispanic: 57
Hispanic: 7
...in Rhode Island:
White, non-Hispanic: 9
...in Vermont:
White, non-Hispanic: 14
Date were not available for New Hampshire.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, bls.gov/iif/home.htm [2]
(EthnicNewz.org first published this story on Thursday, 5 June 2008, and updated it on 7 June 2008.)
********************************************************************************
SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM FOR LINKS for SPANISH-LANGUAGE WEB SITES FOR WORKERS.
********************************************************************************
Latino employees' work-injury death rate is higher than the rate for all U.S. workers. For foreign-born Latino workers, the fatality rate is worse.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the findings today in the online issue of its publication, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [3] (MMWR).
The CDC analyzed data from 1992 to 2006, finding a total of 11,303 work-injury deaths for Latinos. That number accounted for approximately 13 percent of all fatalities from occupation-related deaths in the U.S.
The Latino workers' annual rate of death due to work-related injury exceeded the rate for all U.S. workers for every year except 1995.
In 2006, Latino employees' work-injury death rate was 5 per 100,000 Hispanic workers in the U.S., compared to 4 among all workers, 4 among non-Hispanic white workers, and 3.7 among non-Hispanic black workers.
From 2003 to 2006, the work-injury death rate for foreign-born Hispanic workers was 5.9 per 100,000, compared to 3.5 for their U.S.-born counterparts.
Of all Latino workers who died from work-related injuries in 2003-2006, 67 percent of them were foreign born, of whom approximately 70 percent was born in Mexico.
Homicide was the most common cause of death of Latino workers from 1992 to 1996.
Highway incidents were the leading fatality from 1997 to 2006.
The CDC findings continue to affirm a persistent trend of injuries and fatalities for Latino workers in the U.S.
In a book published in 2003, Hispanic workers in the United States: An analysis of employment distributions, fatal occupational injuries, and nonfatal occupational injuries [4], the authors state that data of 2000 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) "show higher fatal work injury rates for Hispanic workers than for other racial/ethnic groups - rates that appear to be increasing even as fatal work injury rates for most other United States workers are declining."
The three authors - Bureau of Labor of Statistics associates Scott Richardson, John Ruser and Peggy Suarez - go on to say that Latinos don't fare much better for job injuries that don't result in death.
"Non-fatal occupational injury and illness rates are also higher among Hispanic workers," they wrote.
According to today's MMWR report, the leading industries for employment of Latinos who died from work-related injuries, during the 2003-2006 period, were:
• construction (34%)
• administrative and waste services (11%)
• agriculture/forestry/fishing/hunting (10%)
• transportation/warehousing (10%).
The deceased Latino workers' median age was younger, too, than for all workers. In the 1992-2006 study period, Latino decedents' median age was 35, compared to 42 for all workers.
One major reason for Latino workers' higher rate of employment-related-injury death may be the high-risk nature of their jobs, such as those in the construction industry.
But the high-risk nature of the jobs may account for only part of Latino workers' higher death rates.
The MMWR report notes that an analysis of Latino work-injury fatalities in the construction industry "found that Hispanic workers also had elevated rates when compared with non-Hispanic workers in the same occupations (e.g., laborers or roofers)."
Other factors that may contribute to Latino employees' work injury-related deaths may be:
• inadequate knowledge and control of safety hazards
• inadequate training and supervision of workers
• literacy levels of workers.
The MMWR report further advises that prevention of work injury-related deaths among Latinos requires that:
1) employers take additional responsibility for providing a safe work environment,
2) safety and health agencies must provide employers of Latino workers with safety information
3) safety and health agencies must ensure compliance with existing safety regulations
4) researchers and health communication professionals must create and deliver materials that are culturally appropriate and effective for non-English-proficient workers, with varying levels of literacy
5) labor unions, community groups and workers themselves can contribute to research and prevention measures.
For states that had 30 or more work-related injury deaths among Latinos during 2003-2006, those that had the highest numbers of fatalities were California (773 deaths), Texas (687) and Florida (417).
The states with the highest fatality rates were South Carolina (22.8 per 100,000 Hispanic workers), Oklahoma (10.3), Georgia (9.6) and Tennessee (8.9).
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)'s "Employment outlook: 2006-16: An overview of BLS projections to 2016 [5]" by James C. Franklin, immigration plays a "significant" role in the country's labor force growth.
Latinos and Asians have been the fastest-growing segments of the workforce since 1986. This trend is expected to continue as the country's overall poulation growth is projected to slow down.
Latinos accounted for about 52 percent of the 7.6 million net international migrants into the USA between April 2000 and July 2006; Asians, 23 percent.
The trend in Latinos' participation in the labor force underscores the needs for employer and employee safety education as well as compliance with safety regulations.
The MMWR report, "Work-Related Injury Deaths Among Hispanics – United States, 1992--2006," is online at cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5722a1.htm [6].
source: EthnicNewz.org
Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express permission of the news source. Contact Newz for more information.
ENSURING SAFETY and GOOD HEALTH for LATINO EMPLOYEES:
PROTEGIENDO la SEGURIDAD y SALUD de los TRABAJADORES en AMERICA:
"Compliance Assistance: Employers and Workers [7]," U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
OSHA en Español [8]
Responsabilidades del:
[10] Empleado [11]
Empleador [12]
Problemas en el Trabajo:
Peligro en Imminente [13]
Negarse a trabajar porque las condiciones son peligrosas [14]
Discriminación en contra de empleados que ejercen sus derechos de seguridad y salud [15]
Quejas del Empleado:
Cómo presentar una queja ante OSHA [16]
Proceso de Manejo de Quejas de OSHA Federal [17]
Protección de querellantes [18]
Recursos:
Coordinadores Hispanos, en Inglés (Regional Hispanic/ESL Coordinators [19])
Oficinas de OSHA, en Inglés (Regional and Area Offices [20])