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U.S Department of Labor Secretary Solis to Address American Society of Safety Engineers’ San Antonio Conference Attendees June 29

Tomas — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 20:48:51 +0000

"U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis will address thousands of attendees from around the globe at the June 28-July 1, 2009, American Society of Safety Engineers (www.asse.org/newsroom)' (ASSE) Professional Development Conference (PDC) and Exposition in San Antonio. Secretary Solis will address the crowd in a General Session presentation to be held the morning of June 29 in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

"This is an honor to have Secretary Solis address our members at this time," ASSE President Warren K. Brown, CSP, ARM, CSHM, said today. "She is committed, like safety and health professionals, to making sure that everyone who goes to work is provided a safe and healthy workplace. Our members work day in and day out preventing injuries and illnesses in the workplace worldwide."

Secretary Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor on February 24, 2009. Prior to her confirmation, Secretary Solis represented the 32nd Congressional District in California, a position she held from 2001 - 2009. In Congress, Solis' priorities included expanding access to affordable health care, protecting the environment, and improving the lives of working families. A recognized leader on clean energy jobs, she authored the Green Jobs Act which provided funding for "green" collar job training for veterans, displaced workers, at risk youth, and individuals in families under 200 percent of the federal poverty line.

In 2007, Solis was appointed to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), as well as on the Mexico/U.S. Interparliamentary Group. In June 2007, Secretary Solis was elected Vice Chair of the Helsinki Commission's General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, the only U.S. elected official to serve on this Committee.

A nationally recognized leader on the environment, Solis was the first woman to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000 for her work on environmental justice issues. Her California environmental justice legislation, enacted in 1999, was the first of its kind in the nation to become law.

Solis was first elected to public office in 1985 as a member of the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees. She served in the California State Assembly from 1992 to 1994, and in 1994 made history by becoming the first Latina elected to the California State Senate. As the chairwoman of the California Senate Industrial Relations Committee, she led the efforts to increase the state's minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.75 an hour in 1996. She also authored a record 17 state laws aimed at combating domestic violence.

Solis graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, and earned a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. A former federal employee, she worked in the Carter White House Office of Hispanic Affairs and was later appointed as a management analyst with the Office of Management and Budget in the Civil Rights Division.

The 98-year-old ASSE is the oldest and largest safety society with more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members located worldwide. ASSE is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. The ASSE PDC features 225 educational sessions featuring cutting edge issues along with the largest occupational safety, health and environmental Exposition in the U.S. The expo features 400 companies including 70 new exhibitors introducing new products.

Other key presentations will be made by Economist and Fox News Business Journalist Stuart Varney and Former Yahoo! Chief Solutions Officer Tim Sanders. Varney will address the state of global business and the economy and Sanders will discuss corporate social responsibility and green business practices. U.S. Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) Jordan Barab will participate in a special Plenary Session. The last day of the conference will also feature an Executive Summit with corporate executives sharing their insights with attendees. A conference luncheon featuring Chip Eichelberger, a business motivational speaker and certified speaking professional, will discuss what safety and health professional need to know to promote their programs, themselves and the importance of safety in their organizations, will be offered. Key issue roundtables which provide individual attendees an opportunity to discuss issues and experiences will also be held during the PDC.

Founded in 1911, the Des Plaines, IL-based ASSE's members lead, manage, supervise, research and consult on safety, health, transportation and environmental issues in all industries, government, labor, health care and education. For more information on the speakers, sessions, schedule and to register please visit www.asse.org.

Contact: Diane Hurns, 847-768-3413, Dhurns (at) asse (dot) org"

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Attention needed to prevent Hispanic worker deaths – Hispanic workers may be at higher risk for work-related death than other U.S. workers, a University of Iowa trauma investigator warns. “Iowa has many Hispanic workers, and they are doing jobs in industries like those highlighted in a recent national report,” said Murray Madsen, chief investigator Iowa Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (IA FACE) at the University of Iowa.

Tomas — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:15:14 +0000

"Hispanic workers may be at higher risk for work-related death than other U.S. workers, a University of Iowa trauma investigator warns.

"Iowa has many Hispanic workers, and they are doing jobs in industries like those highlighted in a recent national report," said Murray Madsen, chief investigator Iowa Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation ( IA FACE ) at the University of Iowa.

The report, compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) and published in the Dec. 3, 2008 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association ( JAMA ), indicated Hispanics are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. workforce. Between 1992 and 2006, a total of 11,303 Hispanic workers died from work-related injuries, and the death rate for Hispanic workers during that time was consistently higher than the rate for all U.S. workers. The proportion of deaths among foreign-born Hispanic workers increased over time, according to report. The full report is available at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/300/21/2479.

The IA FACE program, which keeps a record of work-related fatalities in the state, shows an increase in deaths among Hispanic workers in recent years. There were 14 Hispanic workers who died at work in Iowa from 2003 through 2006, Madsen said. In 2007, there were four and to date in 2008 there have been at least six, he said.

"That's more than any year since 2004," Madsen said.

In the JAMA report, highway incidents were the most common fatal event from 1997-2006, with the exception of 2000 and 2006 when falls to a lower level were most common among Hispanic workers. During 2003-2006, the most common industry for these events was construction followed by waste services and agriculture as a close third.

The study states that much of the increased risk for Hispanic workers is likely due to high-risk jobs. Previous investigations have suggested several characteristics that contribute to higher numbers of deaths among Hispanic workers, including lack of experience, inadequate knowledge and control of recognized safety hazards, and inadequate training and supervision of Hispanic workers, often exacerbated by different languages and literacy levels of workers.

"Preventing work-related deaths among Hispanic workers deserves attention by employers," Madsen said. "Employers may need more and better culturally appropriate and effective resources to do so."

Workers, their communities and organizations are also identified in the CDC study as important contributors to help identify and prevent occupational safety and health issues. Two Web resources include: http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/menu/other_languages/other_languages.html and http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/compliance_assistance/index_hispanic.html.

Iowa's worker deaths are recorded on the IA FACE Web site at http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/FACE?Summaries/index.html.

IA FACE is one of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's nine state-based programs designed to conduct surveillance, targeted investigations and prevention activities on all occupational fatalities.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa College of Public Health Office of Communications and External Relations, 4257 Westlawn, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242

MEDIA CONTACTS: Murray Madsen, Iowa Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation, murray-madsen@uiowa.edu, 319-335-4481; Debra Venzke, UI College of Public Health Office of Communications and External Relations, 319-335-9647, debra-venzke@uiowa.edu"

More Hispanics die on job than other U.S. workers – Study finds rate of work-related deaths overall has dropped since ‘92

Tomas — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:22:49 +0000

"More Hispanics die on the job than other U.S. workers, and the rate is highest among the foreign-born, according to a federal study released Thursday.

Construction industry work accounted for a third of the Hispanic deaths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported after reviewing more than 11,000 Hispanic work-related deaths between 1992 and 2006. About 95 percent were men.

According to Dr. Sherry Baron, who studies health disparities for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the figures aren't surprising."

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NYC Construction Becomes More Deadly

Tomas — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 02:05:47 +0000

"Oscar Paredes, executive director of the Latin American Workers Project, said outreach and training by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and city agencies are ineffective because of the language barrier.

"The city government doesn't have a lot of people who speak the language or that can offer the appropriate training," he said.

Moreover, Paredes said some workers ignore safety precautions, sometimes because they are apathetic, sometimes because they are afraid to lose their job if they refuse to perform a dangerous task, such as scaling heights with no harnesses or guardrails."

U.S. Proposes $2.78 Million Fine (against Cintas) in Worker’s Death – Eleazar Torres Gomez – Tulsa

Tomas — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 15:24:12 +0000

"Federal safety officials have called for a $2.78 million penalty against the Cintas Corporation, the nation’s largest supplier of uniforms, for violations at its Tulsa plant, where a worker died when he was pulled into a large dryer. The penalty that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Thursday evening is more than four times any previous safety penalty leveled against a service-sector company. In March, the Cintas employee, Eleazar Torres Gomez, 46, died when a conveyer belt in the automated laundry of the Tulsa plant dragged him into an industrial dryer. Workers said Mr. Torres was trapped more than 20 minutes in temperatures that reached 300 degrees."

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Safety and health alliance formed to protect Hispanic workers – New Jersey

Tomas — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 17:01:34 +0000

"Reducing the number of Hispanic employees killed and injured in construction and general industry is the goal of a new alliance formed by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development and El Refugio, a Newton-based non-profit outreach center for Hispanic families. Under the alliance, OSHA will work with El Refugio to develop workplace safety and health training programs to educate the organization’s clients about fall, amputation, electrical, “struck-by”/”crushed-in” hazards and emergency response issues."

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CLARO, OSHA renew alliance – Marshall, Missouri

Tomas — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:24:17 +0000

"CLARO and OSHA renewed a formal alliance at a signing ceremony Wednesday, Dec. 6, cementing a relationship officials of both organizations hope will be mutually beneficial. Carrie Tyler, executive director of the Centro Latino de Apoyo, Recursos y Oportunidades in Marshall and Barbara Theriot, director of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administrations Kansas City area office, signed the agreement at CLAROs office just east of the Marshall square."

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National Safety Council Launches Hispanic Safety + Health Congress

Tomas — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 15:23:06 +0000

"Striving to make the world safer by working closely with a number of safety and health organizations worldwide, the National Safety Council next week will host leading experts and dignitaries from 17 countries for its first Hispanic Safety Health Congress. Since the 1990s, the National Safety Council has collaborated with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) – the regional office of the World Health Organization – to promote occupational safety and health within the Hispanic community living in Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States. The Hispanic Congress, Nov. 6-7 at the San Diego Convention Center, is one outcome of that partnership. "

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Three Rallies Planned April 28th Expected to Empower Latino Injured Workers Against Employers Trying to Strip Away California Workers’ Compensation Benefits

Tomas — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 14:37:37 +0000

"Latino crowds are expected to be heavy at three different rallies planned for April 28th to recognize California’s Workers’ Memorial Day, commemorating the creation of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Rallies will be held in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento. Speakers at the Sacramento rally, scheduled for 11:00 am at the South steps of the State Capitol, include nurse Barbara Clark, a plaintiff in a multi-million dollar federal lawsuit, and Eric Drew, the first victim of identity theft to successfully have a perpetrator convicted under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), amongst others. “There are forces in the state that want to strip away workers compensation benefits for undocumented workers,” said Clark about the anticipated showing of Latino workers. “Stripping away health benefits for injured workers hurt by unsafe employers is becoming the flash-point for outraged Latinos fed up with mal-treatment,” Clark said."

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Iowa OSHA, Hispanics to partner. Program will promote safety at meatpacking plant

Tomas — Sun, 27 Nov 2005 00:09:36 +0000

"A state agency and a Hispanic community organization have reached a first-of-its-kind agreement to address employee concerns at a Marshalltown meatpacking plant. The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Latinos en Accion de Citizens for Community Improvement, a Hispanic Advocacy group, have signed a two-year partnership agreement to promote safety and educate Hispanic workers about workplace rights."

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OSHA Joins with Guatemalan Consulate to Enhance Safety and Health for Hispanic Workers in New York and New Jersey

Tomas — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:35:40 +0000

"Enhancing workplace safety and health for Guatemalan and other Hispanic workers in New York and New Jersey is the goal of a newly-signed alliance between the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Consulate General of Guatemala in New York City. OSHA and the consulate, along with other faith-based and community organizations, will work with the local Hispanic community in New York and New Jersey to increase safety and health awareness. This will include jointly developing and delivering training and education programs to non-English or limited-English speaking employees and employers."

WFU research: More safety regulations needed in poultry plants

Tomas — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 19:48:49 +0000

Researchers from Wake Forest Baptist and Centro Latino of Caldwell County interviewed Latino poultry workers in six western counties: Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin. The survey was based on a representative sample of workers in those counties, according to a medical center news release. The researchers said that, on average, the injury rate from [...]