PRESS RELEASES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ian Bennitt | (202) 347-5462 | ibennitt@dc.bjllp.com

SCA Completes Spanish Translation of OSHA Video Series Entitled Fatal Shipyard Accidents: Hazards and Solutions

For Immediate Release – October 22, 2007
Contact: Ian Bennitt

The Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) has completed a project to translate the OSHA interactive video series (Volumes I and II) entitled “Fatal Shipyard Accidents: Hazards and Solutions” into Latin Spanish. This job was made possible through a National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) grant. 

The videos use computer animation to showcase types of shipyard fatalities, the reasons why these accidents happen and how to prevent the same fatalities from happening in the future.  Specifically, Volume 1 covers crane, confined space, and improper use hazards. Volume 2 covers crane hazards and drowning hazards. 

According to the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), consisting of thirty-eight high-precision samples of the American population drawn from fifteen federal censuses and from the American Community Surveys of 2000-2004, there are 17,625 Spanish speaking workers in the Shipbuilding industry out of 137,282, almost 13% of the workforce. 

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported that in 2003, Hispanic worker fatalities accounted for 14 percent of the 5,559 total fatal work injuries that occurred in the U.S.  Foreign-born Hispanic workers accounted for 519 fatalities, or 69 percent of the total 791 Hispanic workers who were fatally injured while at work that year. The rate of 4.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers recorded for Hispanic workers was a 13 percent higher rate than the rate of 4.0 fatalities per 100,000 employed recorded for all workers.

In July 2004, then OSHA Administrator John Henshaw convened a DOL-OSHA Hispanic Safety and Health Summit in Orlando, FL. to share practical safety and health information on how to reduce workplace injuries, present success stories, and discuss gaps in communication, training, and outreach for Hispanic workers in the U.S.  Henshaw said, “From our own data, [we] already know that about 25% of the fatalities we investigate are in some way related to language or cultural barriers…. due to cultural differences, safety practices of immigrant workers' native countries may not be as strong as ours in this country.”