The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #38140

James W. Platner, PhD, CIH and Sue Dong, MA. The Center to Protect Workers' Rights, 8484 Georgia Avenue Suite 1000, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-578-8500 x140, jplatner@cpwr.com

Hispanic workers represent an increasing fraction of the U.S. construction workforce, exceeding 15% in 2000. A majority of Hispanic construction workers (57%) are non-citizens, of which 22% had emigrated within the past 3 years. More than one third (36%) of Hispanic construction workers are under 30 years old, compared to 22.6% of the non-Hispanics, resulting in an average age which is 5 years younger than non-Hispanics. Hispanic construction workers are at higher risk of being killed on the job than non-Hispanic construction workers, even after correcting for participation in high-risk trades. The mortality injury rate (MIR) increased from 15 deaths per 100,000 FTE in 1994 to 19 deaths per 100,000 FTE in 1999. After controlling for occupations, relative risk for Hispanic workers compared to non-Hispanic workers in construction increased from 1.35 in 1994 to 1.62 in 1999. The incidence of reported occupational injuries and illnesses among Hispanic construction workers increased by more than 60% from 17,738 in 1994 to 28,757 in 1999, however the reported injury rates are relatively stable (2.4% to 2.5%) similar to the reported rates for the non-Hispanic workers. Given that both fatality and injury rates should be proportional to exposures to risk, this suggests significant under-reporting of injuries and illnesses by Hispanic construction workers. Additional research is required to evaluate factors which place Hispanic construction workers at higher risk, and to evaluate the effectiveness of targeted public health interventions.

Learning Objectives:

• -Recognize that Hispanic workers constitute a significant and growing portion of the construction workforce in the US

• -Recognize that the relative risk of occupational fatalities among Hispanic construction workers is 1.62 after correcting for participation in high risk trades

• -List several construction trades with high participation by Hispanic workers

• -Discuss characteristics and conditions that may impact risk and public health interventions.

Keywords: Hispanic, Occupational Injury and Death

Related Web page: www.cpwr.com

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.