BACKGROUND: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Hispanic or Latino workers represented 16% of the total employed workforce and 16% of the total nonfatal injuries in 2014. Fatal injuries among Hispanics numbered 789 in 2014, approximately 17% of total worker fatalities in the U.S. The objective of this study was to characterize Hispanic worker fatalities in Kentucky from 2001-2015.
METHODS: Kentucky Fatality and Control Evaluation worker fatality data were descriptively analyzed from 2001-2015.
RESULTS: Over the study period, there were a total of 1,580 worker fatalities; 61 (4%) were Hispanic worker fatalities. Fifty-eight (95%) of the decedent Hispanic workers were male and 33 (54%) were under the age of 40 years at the time of death; 14 (23%) were under the age of 30 years. Twenty (33%) of the Hispanic worker fatalities were in the construction industry and 12 (20%) of the deaths occurred in the services industry; 18 (30%) were due to falls, and 14 (23%) were due to motor vehicle collisions. Of the 20 Hispanic worker fatalities in the construction industry, 12 (60%) were due to falls and 7 (35%) involved roofers. Six (30%) of the Hispanic construction worker fatalities involved falls from ladders or scaffolding and 11 (55%) of the Hispanic construction worker decedents did not use personal fall protection or had inadequate personal fall protection. Eleven (55%) of the 20 decedents were subcontractors, and 12 (60%) of the Hispanic worker fatalities occurred on commercial construction sites.
CONCLUSIONS: FACE data results show that Hispanic workers, especially young workers, continue to need new and refresher safety training in personal fall protection and ladder use to prevent falls within the construction industry, and in occupant restraint use and defensive driving to prevent motor vehicle crash injuries. Also, construction subcontractors should be held better accountable for safety training and safety equipment provision to workers who are hired. Subcontractors should offer safety training in Spanish, paying attention to workers’ literacy levels and reinforcing written materials with demonstration and language-sensitive oral training where needed.