Workers Compensation - Hispanic Workers in South Carolina Suffer from Highest Death Rate in Unites States
Posted by
Will ParkerJune 06, 2008 1:35 PMHow much does it costs to print safety instructions in two languages...and what are some of the consequences of not doing so. Think about that when reading the following:
My home state, South Carolina, had the nation's highest on-the-job death rate for Hispanic workers between 2003 and 2006, but the number of work-related fatalities for the fastest growing segment of the population has declined nationally.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the findings Thursday in a reportrelatedtowork-related injury deaths for Hispanics in America.
During the timeperiod cobvered,51 Hispanic workers died on the job in South Carolina, a rate of 22.8 per 100,000 workers, the CDC reported using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The numberdoubled that of Oklahoma, which had the second highest rate in the United States.
Fallscontributedto the most injuries.Sixty-three percent of the deaths were in the construction industry. The cause is not known.
"A reasonable explanation is new immigrants are moving to work in construction, which has a higher risk," said Sherry Brown of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's Occupational Health Disparities Program.
The same study found that 88 percent of the Hispanics who died while at work in South Carolina were foreign-born.
Hispanic leaders believe that improving communication by educating workers and printing instructions and safety warnings in both Spanish and English could help reduce the number of injuries and deaths.
"The message has to be more clear and direct," said Luisa Moreno, executive director of the Hispanic Contractors Association of the Carolinas, based in Charlotte, N.C. The association has regular safety fairs that aim to teach workers how to stay safe on the job site, she said.
Nationally, on-the-job deaths of foreign-born workers have been increasing, and overall Hispanic death rates are consistently higher than those of white and black workers.
For five consecutive years, South Carolina has recorded the fastest growing Hispanic population in the nation.
Hispanics currently make up about 3 percent of the state's labor force, according to the Census Bureau.
The S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation created a Spanish job safety training program for the construction and landscaping industries in 2005, said Jim Knight, a department spokesman.
"Since that time, we've seen the death rate among Hispanics steadily decline," Knight said.
The number of workers dying at S.C. work sites has dropped to 10 in 2006 from 18 in 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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