A new channel for construction safety information in Spanish: Primetime telenovelas

More than 2.5 million – one quarter – of U.S. construction workers are Latino/Hispanic. These workers disproportionately suffer fatalities and injuries on the job where falls are the leading source of construction fatalities. Spanish-speaking workers are often inadequately served by traditional methods of workplace safety education. Recognizing that Spanish-language television programming is considered a trusted source of information for Latino audiences in the U.S., the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and several partners developed and evaluated an entertainment-education campaign featuring a construction safety storyline in a popular primetime telenovela (Spanish-language soap opera).

The storyline, which involved two secondary characters in the telenovela Pecados Ajenos (Sins of Others) aired in April 2008 on the Telemundo network. Three key messages about preventing falls from ladders at construction worksites were featured in the story and reinforced through a public service announcement (PSA), a Website advertised in the PSA, a companion news broadcast, and Web features on the Telemundo Website. The impact of these campaign messages was evaluated through pre- (N=743) and post-test (N=633) online surveys. Results demonstrate that primetime Spanish-language television can be a successful way to engage families/households of construction workers with workplace safety and health information. Recall of the storyline significantly predicted knowledge about using the right ladder and the importance of not carrying tools or materials in one's hands while climbing a ladder (β=.121, p=.02). We will present this and other data to show the impact on attitudes and behavioral intentions to perform and/or tell someone about various safety measures.