March 15, 2002—US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has directed Department of Labor (DOL) agencies to make unprecedented efforts to ensure that the Department’s broad range of employment-related services—including workplace and mining health and safety training and information, compliance assistance, enforcement of wage and hour laws, pension and retirement information, and employment training—reach immigrant and non-English speaking workers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there has been a significant improvement in safety and health conditions in America recently, but the number of fatalities among Hispanic or Latino workers has increased. For example, from 1992 to 2000, the overall injury/illness incidence rate dropped by 31%. Furthermore, the number of fatal workplace injuries declined by 2% from 1999 to 2000, while overall employment increased that year. However, the BLS report on fatalities for the year 2000 shows an 11.6% increase in fatalities of Hispanic or Latino workers from the previous year.
