Safety programs for employees with special needs

Electrical Apparatus, Nov 2004 by Elsberry, Richard B

Accommodations are no longer just about physical disabilities

TODAY'S WORK FORCE IS far from homogeneous. Just as one size or type of personal protective equipment will not fit or accommodate all your workers, so one company-wide safety program can not be expected to provide adequate on-the-job protection for every occupation performed by your employees.

The typical work force today includes both men and women-in the office as well as in the factory or the field. It often involves entry-level training for apprentices or inexperienced youngsters, as well as advanced machining procedures for seasoned old timers.

In many areas of the country, the work force is multilingual or has Spanish as its first language, although it is not uncommon to find illiterates applying for menial or high-hazard jobs.

Latinos are the fastest growing minority an employer is likely to run into in the job market today. They now represent 12.5% of the population, and while initially they sought positions in food service or crop harvesting, lately they have been aggressively seeking better paying lines of work.

Filling assembly lines

As blue-collar training in American high schools and vocational schools continues to decline, many firms are trying to meet their need for dependable time clock punchers by filling the holes in their assembly lines with Latinos, 49% of whom are not fluent in English. Spanish speakers are becoming increasingly aggressive in seeking the protection of U.S. employment law. Over the last five years, complaints have more than doubled and settlements have risen to over $50 million.

The November 2000 issue of Legal Times stated that "in several recent cases," the U.S. Supreme Court has mandated to employers that they must have a policy prohibiting harassment and discrimination in the workplace and the policy must be "clearly and effectively communicated to company managers and employees so that they both understand the policy and can apply it in practice."

Further, the Court ruled that employers can no longer make superficial efforts to effect behavioral change. In managing a work force that includes Hispanic Americans, employers are required to clearly and effectively communicate to managers and employees the need to bridge cultural gaps within the employee population. This involves meetings, coaching, and counseling in Spanish, bilingual trainers and training videos in Spanish, and visual signs and labeling in both English and Spanish. In addition, all employee memos, policies and procedures, and signage should be translated into Spanish. New employee orientations, meetings, coaching, and counseling must be in Spanish.

Other groups

Besides preferential treatment in providing a safe workplace for Latinos, employers need to take special care in integrating other "vulnerable" workers into their employee mix and safety programs.

These include:

Teenager or youthful workers. Generally workers just out of high school want to please adults. Emotionally they think they are invincible and may volunteer to perform a job they are forbidden to do by law. Teens may not realize they are protected by workplace health and safety laws; as a group they tend to get more eye and hand injuries. More than 75,000 inexperienced youth required treatment in hospital emergency rooms in 1998.

Aging "baby boomer" workers. This category represents the largest demographic segment of the work force. In 2006, baby boomers will begin to turn 60 and by 2008 40% of the work force will be 45 or older. They tend to have fewer accidents but their injuries are often more severe. They report more back injuries and take longer to recover than younger workers. Most exhibit evidence of declining eyesight, hearing, mobility, and memory.

Immigrants and illiterate workers. This category mainly performs menial and high-hazard jobs. They are most likely to get hurt on the job because of difficulty in communicating job hazards. They don't have a sense of empowerment and often don't realize they are protected by workplace health and safety laws. Immigrants will make up over one-third of new entrants into the work force during the next decade.

Females. Women are more susceptible to stress due to the combination of job and family pressures. There is a perception that women's work is safe or "light," but usually it is repetitive and often requires sitting or standing for long periods of time. Women are entering non-traditional jobs that require special training.

Temporary workers, contractors, and plant visitors. Lack of familiarity with your facility is a barrier to safety. Casual visitors are not up to speed on emergency evacuation procedures, or how to get emergency assistance. A New York state firm that failed to provide proper safety training for temporary employees was fined $78,500. Your facility also may not provide accessibility for persons with disabilities, or self-guiding, self-interpretive signage and pictograms.

For more information

* Youth workers: www.cdc/niosh/docs, 2002-128 html, and www.dol.gov/del/topics/youth labor/hazardous jobs/html.