Thread: Health fair focuses on Latino workplace safety

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Health fair focuses on Latino workplace safety

(June 23, 2006) — An annual health fair for Latinos is taking a new twist this year.

Organizers of Sunday's "Hispanic Family Health and Safety Fair" expect some 3,000 visitors to the event, which started a few years ago as an attempt to reduce health disparities between Latinos and other ethnic groups.

This year's event is taking on a lesser-known disparity, that Hispanic workers are more likely to get injured or killed on the job than any other group of employees. That's particularly true among construction workers.

Language barriers and limited literacy are part of the problem. But mastering English and learning to read seem less challenging than some of the other obstacles that one workplace safety official says may put Latino employees at a disadvantage.

Because in a way, improving Latino workplace safety means changing Latinos themselves.

Diana Cortez is the regional Hispanic coordinator for the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration, which has chosen Rochester as the first in the state to bring its message in this kind of venue. She's Puerto Rican, too, a fact that probably helps when trying to interpret to workers and employers alike how culture affects safety.

Take the matter of respect, which is rooted in the culture. Latinos learn early to defer to their elders, respect their teachers, question no one in authority — even if they are wrong.

"They respect their superiors, their bosses, and they will follow all the assignments given to them ... whether they have all the equipment they need or they don't," says Cortez.

She's trying to get out the message that respect and safety are not mutually exclusive, that protecting oneself is as important as following orders.

"They can't do that when their employer is telling them to do something wrong," she says.

Providing for the family is also a cultural priority, explaining why some Latinos fear complaining about unsafe conditions: They don't want to get fired.

Cortez turns that argument around with true stories like the one about a 19-year-old Guatemalan who was putting up a gutter without the proper safety equipment. He fell to the ground and is now wheelchair-bound.

Her message: "If you're killed, you definitely can not help your family."

Harold Steidel, president of a family-owned manufacturing business called Shadel Co. Inc., sees similar cultural differences among his employees. Most of his 40 full-time employees are Latinos, like himself.

"They're so used to just doing (the job)," he says, "without thinking about the consequences."

Steidel, whose Rochester company is celebrating its 20th anniversary today, brought in trainers a month ago to talk about safety. "It's a matter of educating everyone," he says.

That's also the goal of the Rochester Primary Care Network, which has hosted a Latino health fair for the last three years and is a major partner in the upcoming event with OSHA's western New York office. Also involved are the Rochester Institute of Technology OSHA Education Center and Coca-Cola, where the event will be held at 123 Upper Falls Blvd.

Many of the barriers to workplace safety are similar to those that Israel Santana, vice president of the health network, says Latinos face in accessing care. Among them are language and culture.

Some 40 other health and safety agencies will be represented at the fair, which runs from noon to 5 p.m. It's free and open to the public.

Originally Posted by noillegalimmigrationannie

Providing for the family is also a cultural priority, explaining why some Latinos fear complaining about unsafe conditions: They don't want to get fired.

Or, get deported!

Diana Cortez is the regional Hispanic coordinator for the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration, which has chosen Rochester as the first in the state to bring its message in this kind of venue. She's Puerto Rican, too, a fact that probably helps when trying to interpret to workers and employers alike how culture affects safety.

And how much does Diane Cortez make a year. Why do we need "special" positions for Hispanic people? Do we have Oriental coordinators? Do we have African coordinatiors?

Originally Posted by Newmexican

Diana Cortez is the regional Hispanic coordinator for the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration, which has chosen Rochester as the first in the state to bring its message in this kind of venue. She's Puerto Rican, too, a fact that probably helps when trying to interpret to workers and employers alike how culture affects safety.

And how much does Diane Cortez make a year. Why do we need "special" positions for Hispanic people? Do we have Oriental coordinators? Do we have African coordinatiors?

You make excellent points and it is unfair to cater so much to one minority over all others or even the majority, especially when the majority of them are not even LEGAL citizens.