Language Barrier Kills Workers, OSHA Says
Orlando, Fla.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is finding that workplace deaths are on the increase among Hispanics because of language difficulties, a federal official said.
R. Davis Layne, deputy assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, made the remarks during the opening of the Workers Compensation Educational Conference, presented by the Florida Workers Compensation Institute in conjunction with The National Underwriter Company, parent of this magazine.
Mr. Layne made his reference to fatalities as he outlined current plans OSHA has to fulfill its mission of reducing injury and illness in the workplace.
The agency, he said, "finds language barriers have a significant impact" as a cause of workplace fatalities. OSHA, he added, is working to address the needs of Hispanic workers because it found "fatalities for Hispanic workers are on the increase, primarily as the result of falls."
He said that OSHA plans to collect information about language problems for Hispanics in the workplace. He gave no statistics on the amount of workplace fatalities, but did say the workplace injury rate in 2000 was the lowest on record.
He said the agency is planning to increase the number of workplace inspections in the coming year, and that OSHA's director, Assistant Secretary of Labor John Henshaw, has been working to "whittle down" regulatory activity and focus on workable solutions.
Mr. Layne said that "workplace safety needs a culture of change." He added that by "working together, we can accomplish that."
The activities of OSHA, he said, should be viewed as a value-added process for business.
The agency has plans to issue ergonomic guidelines for long term care facilities, followed by guidelines for poultry processing and retail grocery operations, Mr. Layne said.
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, September 2, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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