Construction Safety Training Issues for New Construction Employees and Hispanic Construction Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Aghazadeh F ; Bertot J ; Hubbard B ; Huerta J ; McGlothin J ; Mena I ; Player L ; Soendjojo A ; Aghazadeh F ; Bertot J ; Hubbard B ; Huerta J ; McGlothin J ; Mena I ; Player L ; Soendjojo A
• Description:
  A large number of workplace fatalities occur in the construction industry. Many of these fatalities occur when workers are new to construction and have little experience, suggesting that adequate safety training programs are a necessary part of construction work. However, it is also important that safety programs are targeted to and understood by employees new to the construction industry, and by the different groups forming the construction industry. Hispanic construction workers are a growing group that, due to the increasing number of fatalities in this group, needs to be targeted. To address these segments of the construction work force, two groups were interviewed. The first group consisted of construction interns, many of whom had never worked on a construction site. The results of these studies indicate that safety training can play an important role in safety and can familiarize new employees with potential construction hazards. Results indicate that safety training can be enhanced by explaining construction terminology and concepts during the training. Results also indicate that language barriers on the construction site may have negative impacts on safety. This finding motivated additional surveys of Hispanic construction workers. The second group surveyed in this research consisted of Hispanic construction workers in Louisiana. The results indicate workers' perceptions of construction safety, levels of safety training, familiarity with construction terms, and population characteristics. The survey found that most Hispanic construction workers were between 25 and 34 years old. Nearly 60% did not have a high school degree, and 45% had less than five years of experience in construction in the U. S. Sixty percent had not worked in the construction industry prior to working in Baton Rouge or New Orleans, Louisiana. Fifty-one percent of the Hispanic workers considered falls from heights to be the main cause of accidents, yet 57% of those surveyed said worker carelessness was the main cause of construction related accidents. Fifty-eight percent of the Hispanic workers had not taken any formal training in construction safety. That said, most Hispanic workers who did take training said that the training was given in Spanish or in both English and Spanish (90%). Only 20% of those surveyed understood any construction terminology. This pilot survey implies that it may be incorrect to assume that the large number of fatalities for Hispanic construction workers is due to lack of available training programs in their language. What may be lacking is the proper safety training format and tools (e.g., in the form of story book examples combined with OSHA IO-hour safety training terminology) for Hispanic construction workers. Additional research is needed in order to understand and to implement effective safety training strategies for Hispanic construction workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Mortality Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Construction Industry Construction Workers Fatalities Language Barrier Safety Programs Training Training Research
• Publisher:
  Purdue University
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Final Contract Report ; Final Contract Report
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; Louisiana ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-126
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20059090
• Citation:
  West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University, 2007 Sep; :1-126
• Contact Point Address:
  School of Civil Engineering, 550 Stadium Mall Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2051
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Construction safety training issues for new construction employees and Hispanic construction workers
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e2e171d4e3ecc9f70ec5bc84cdfb92a559e6f460018a614505bdb2b78c867bc7ada2fc81c43d46f9fd8dbfa31381e9fd34142b8391da7821d6f5d8651a87ef03
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/223409/cdc_223409_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.40 MB ]