A 24-year-old Hispanic/Latino nursery worker was killed while using a skid-steer loader to move tall metal carts loaded with plants into a greenhouse. The worker, who had been hired just three days earlier, was found leaning forward in the seat with a severe head injury. Authorities speculate he may have decided to jump out of the skid-steer without turning off the power. When he moved, his coat got caught on the controls and the machine jolted forward.
In another incident, a 34-year-old female Hispanic nursery worker was traveling between two farms in wet, foggy conditions. Her vehicle drifted into the opposite lane of the road and collided with a van. The van driver survived. She did not.
These two incidents are among the many serious injuries and deaths that occur to Hispanic workers at nurseries, greenhouses and other green-industry operations each year. One Associated Press survey found that native Mexican workers in all industries die on the job in the
Within landscaping alone, government officials estimate that 170-175 Hispanic and non-Hispanic workers are killed on the job each year.
“Getting our Hispanic workers to ask questions is difficult,” said Laurie Erdman, safety manager at the Bruce Co. of Wisconsin in
Identify barriers
It’s important for nursery managers to understand the barriers that can inhibit effective safety communication with native Spanish-speaking employees. These barriers may include language issues, literacy levels and other cultural issues.
For example, it’s entirely possible that some of your workers may not be able to read and write in either English or Spanish. Educational opportunities in countries such as
Language presents another barrier. There are many different Spanish dialects, sometimes even within the same country. For example, workers from rural villages in
Nodding their heads “yes” when asked if they understand a safety lesson is very common among Hispanic nursery workers. So is a failure to ask questions, even when the lesson is not truly understood. Much of this is related to the cultural issue of wanting to “please the boss.” An unwillingness to question persons “in authority” (such as a supervisor) has strong roots in Latin American cultures, due to the authoritarian systems of government in some countries.
Here are some more cultural issues to be aware of:
* Lack of direct eye contact. Direct eye contact with an older person or a person “in authority” is considered disrespectful in many Hispanic cultures, as well as in certain other cultures.
* Avoidance of conflict and confrontation. Again, this is due to a strong desire to “please the boss.” The problem is that it can result in a failure to complain to a supervisor about poor quality or poor work conditions.
* The importance of family. Family is a key value in most Hispanic/Latino cultures. You can make use of this strong value by orienting your safety messages to the impact they will have on your workers’ families.
* A tendency to take risks. Risk-taking, particularly prevalent among young Hispanic males, often results in taking unnecessary chances when working with hazardous equipment or performing other tasks.
What to do
There are ways to work around many of these barriers, once they have been identified. At the Bruce Co. of Wisconsin, Erdman said supervisors’ biggest tool is to perform hands-on demonstrations, then have each Hispanic worker demonstrate that he or she can safely operate the equipment or perform the relevant task.
The company’s Hispanic landscape employees are generally matched with a bilingual (English-Spanish-speaking) crew leader and work in a specific area, such as hardscapes. “Some of these workers have been able to achieve crew leader status,” Erdman said. “Our crew leaders are generally bilingual. They have to at least be able to take instructions from their lead persons, so they have to be able to comprehend English.”
Other tools the Bruce Co. uses include requiring people in certain positions (such as human resources) to be bilingual so they can communicate with native Spanish-speaking employees; doing in-house translations of key safety and human resources documents into Spanish; and -- in the past -- having an instructor from the Madison Area Technical College teach English to the company’s native Spanish-speaking workers and Spanish to the company’s key English-speaking staff.
Here are some more tips to assist you:
* Learn about your workers’ cultures. Ask questions and demonstrate an interest in where your workers come from. This is important not only so you know how to effectively communicate your safety messages, but also so you show your workers that you care about them and their safety.
* Incorporate your workers’ important values into your safety lessons. For example, since family is an important cultural value, instead of telling your Hispanic workers that they must wear safety glasses so they don’t lose an eye, tell them that it’s important to wear safety glasses “so they can see their children grow up.” Also, instead of telling them that they must use a respirator so they don’t wind up with a severe respiratory illness, tell them that they must use a respirator so they “are able to continue to provide for their families in the future.”
* Make use of both visuals and hands-on demonstrations. This means more than just showing a Spanish-language videotape. Safety-related videotapes are fine, but it’s critical that someone who speaks your workers’ native language is available to further explain the video.
* Train orally and in a manner your workers understand. This is especially important because Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently issued a new policy statement that OSHA-required employee training must be in “both a language and a vocabulary that employees can understand.” So if you know you have native Spanish-speaking employees with limited literacy levels, be sure you train not only in Spanish but also using words those employees will understand.
* Ask about your workers’ families. Take the time when you walk by to shake their hands, call them by name, and ask how their families are doing. Again, because family is such an important value, this seemingly small gesture will go a long way toward letting employees know that you care about their welfare -- and, in turn, will help generate loyalty toward your company.
For more: The Bruce Co. of Wisconsin, (608) 836-7041; www.bruceco.com.
- Barb Mulhern
{sidebar id=2}
Barb Mulhern is a freelance writer who’s an expert on safety, (608) 848-3758; bamu100@aol.com.
April 2008