Occupational Safety

Hispanics at higher risk for dying on the job

Written by barb howe Friday, 06 June 2008 08:15

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A new study published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report finds that Hispanic workers are more likely to be killed on the job than non-Hispanics.

In 2006, the work-related injury death rate for Hispanic workers was 5.0 per 100,000 Hispanic workers, compared with rates of 4.0 for all workers, 4.0 for non-Hispanic white workers, and 3.7 for non-Hispanic black workers. During 2003--2006, the work-related injury death rate for foreign-born Hispanic workers was 5.9, compared with a rate of 3.5 for U.S.-born Hispanic workers".

What's going on? According to the report, "hispanic workers, especially those who are foreign born, might be more willing to perform tasks with higher risk and more hesitant to decline such tasks for fear of losing their jobs." And according to our experience, many undocumented workers are often afraid to seek medical treatment for fear of being deported (this, while the anti-immigrant crowd complains of "illegals" driving up the cost of social services!) or they simply don't have access to health care at all. Add to that language barriers, lack of enforcement of safety regulations and the endless pursuit of the profit margin and what you get are more preventable tragedies such as Maria Isabel's.

What can we do? The report recommends that employers take more responsibility for improving work place safety; government agencies to provide increased access to safety information and enforcement of regulations; and the development of culturally appropriate training materials for workers who speak different languages and have different educational backgrounds.

To that we might add: lowering the level of anti-immigrant hysteria so that people don't have to live, work and even die in fear simply because they needed to work for a living; recognizing that all workers, no matter their ethnicity or legal status, deserve safe workplaces; and supporting workers' organizing unions to make demands on their employers to improve working conditions.

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COMMENTS (1)

Agriculture, construction and mining are the 3 most dangerous occupations. Yet, many states' workers' compensation laws -- providing medical care and lost wages for occupational injuries --still discriminate against ag. workers by excluding them from coverage or granting less benefits. See our worker's comp page.