May 3, 2002—The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will soon begin to collect data on country of origin and primary language capability for all workers involved in fatality and other serious accident investigations, announced John L. Henshaw, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, on April 26, 2002.
The agency will also begin to collect the first site-specific information on construction projects where many immigrants and other workers die every year.
“The disproportionately high number of work-related deaths suffered by non-English-speaking–including Hispanic—workers is of grave concern to us,” Henshaw said. “These workers are among the most vulnerable in America. To improve their safety we must clearly identify the underlying problems and trends contributing to the situation.”
The new data collection will enable OSHA to analyze language and country of origin information to determine what role language barriers and other risk factors play in fatalities and other workplace accidents. The agency will then use the information to determine what specifically must be done to improve safety for these workers.
OSHA will also soon begin to collect data from about 13,000 construction employers for the first time. This data will provide a clearer picture of injuries and illnesses in construction, and will be used to target inspections to those sites where there are higher-than-average injury and illness rates. It will also be used to focus outreach and compliance assistance on employers who would most benefit from it. The construction industry typically has high fatality rates among immigrants and other workers.
