Let Your Love Language Be “Safety”

The language of safety is like the language of love it’s universal, diverse and affects every company and employee that speaks another language other than English. Protecting your employees is a tremendous responsibility and should be taken seriously as its the law.

The necessity to make sure all employees fully understand the safety message, the policies, procedures, instructions, and safety training is critical in protecting their exposure to workplace hazards.

Our Hispanic Outreach Coordinator has the unique function of being involved in legal cases as an interpreter for several law firms that involve Hispanic employees that have been injured on the job.

Eve Gomez observes the legal proceedings and has come to understand the significance of documentation to include training records, tool box talks, review of the safety manual/written programs, as well as being properly trained, understanding and knowledgeable on the material, instructions, written policies being administered prior to the work assignment and during normal daily work activities.

She is an advocate of safety and a tremendous advocate for Hispanic/Latino employees which makes her a valuable asset and resource for any company and for the employers/employees she comes in contact with. Her experience is on the legal aspect of what the company faces when they fail to manage their safety programs and training. Together we paint a clear picture of the importance of the language of safety and the consequences if not understood.

Her comment was not only echoed but reinforced by the Assistant Area Director of OSHA for the Aurora Area Office not only for the Hispanic/Latino employees but for the Polish employees as well.

Since there were a large number of Hispanic/Latino employees in this safety presentation that question and concern for their well-being were well received and appreciated.

As we continued to interact with the participants many Hispanic/Latino employees reached out to speak with Eve stating that they are not being properly trained as they really don’t fully understand the training they are receiving, the necessity, and requirements for utilizing the PPE, safety equipment, Fall Protection, and Fall Arrest Devices.

It’s also important to realize that employees who speak different languages may also have a limited number of years of education or technical understanding which again affects the learning process. That enforces the fact to have some type of system to measure the effectiveness of your training, understanding of policies are being delivered verbally or in writing and understood no matter if you’re in manufacturing, fabrication, automotive, construction, retail, food, railroad, recycling, or logistics.

As an employer, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your employees are properly and effectively trained in the aspect of their job and demonstrate that they fully comprehend and understand the information being presented to them. You cannot assume that your employees are receiving the information because they simply sign a sheet of paper, toolbox talk, sign into a training session or sign their name that they reviewed your safety manual.

Another concern is that some employers indicated that they had interpreters conveying the information during training or from the supervisor when giving specific job site instructions to the Hispanic/Latino/Polish employees. The concern there is that if the trainer/supervisor is not bilingual how does he/she knows what is actually being translated and if it’s done in the appropriate context. The effort is appreciated, but the consequences could be extremely costly.

Safety is complex in its own right and to have it misunderstood, improperly conveyed, misinformed could have tragic results for everyone involved.

The language of safety is as important as the message being delivered. If the information is not delivered properly then it can’t be assumed that it’s being accurately understood. The importance of training is significant enough for OSHA to address it in their standards for a reason.

Read the below listed for OSHA:

https://www.osha.gov/dep/standards-policy-statement-memo-04-28-10 (See Below)

Employer’s Training Obligation

Many OSHA standards require that employees receive training so that work will be performed in a safe and healthful manner. Some of these standards require “training” or “instruction,” others require “adequate” or “effective” training or instruction, and still others require training “in a manner” or “in language” that is understandable to employees.

It is the Agency’s position that, regardless of the precise regulatory language, the terms “train” and “instruct,” as well as other synonyms, mean to present information in a manner that employees receiving it are capable of understanding.

This follows from both the purpose of the standards, providing employees with information that will allow work to be performed in a safe and healthful manner that complies with OSHA requirements, and the basic definition that implies the information is presented in a manner the recipient is capable of understanding.

OSHA has a long and consistent history of interpreting its standards and other requirements to require employers to present information in a manner that their employees can understand. See, e.g., CPL 2-238(D)(1998) (“[i]f the employees receive job instructions in a language other than English, then training and information to be conveyed under the [hazard communication standard] will also need to be conducted in a foreign language”); letter from Russell B. Swanson to Chip MacDonald (1999) (“instruction that employers must provide under §1926.21 must be tailored to the employees’ language and education….”).

Courts and the Commission have agreed with OSHA that an employer may not take advantage of “an adequately communicated work rule” when it did not communicate that rules to a non-English speaking employee in a language that employee could understand. See, e.g., Modern Continental Construction Company, Inc. v. OSHRC, 305 F.3d 43, 52 (1st Cir. 2002); Star Brite Construction Co., 19 (BNA) OSHC 1687, 1695 n.12 (N. 95-0343, 2001).

In practical terms, this means that an employer must instruct its employees using both a language and vocabulary that the employees can understand. For example, if an employee does not speak or comprehend English, instruction must be provided in a language the employee can understand.

Similarly, if the employee’s vocabulary is limited, the training must account for that limitation. For the same reason, if employees are not literate, telling them to read training materials will not satisfy the employer’s training obligation.

As a general matter, employers are expected to realize that if they customarily need to communicate work instructions or other workplace information to employees at a certain vocabulary level or in language other than English, they will also need to provide safety and health training to employees in the same manner.

Of course, employers may also provide instruction in learning the English language to non-English speaking employees. Over time this may lessen the need to provide OSH Act training in other languages.

Additionally, OSHA’s training provisions contain a variety of specific requirements related to employee comprehension.

For example, 29 CFR 1910.147(c)(7)(i) (Lockout/Tagout) requires the employer to verify that the employees have “acquired” the knowledge and skills which they have been trained.

29 CFR 1910.134(k)(5)(ii) (Respiratory Protection) requires retraining when “inadequacies in the employee’s knowledge or use of the respirator indicate that the employee has not retained the requisite understanding or skill;”

29 CFR 1910.1030(g)(2)(vii)(N) (Bloodborne Pathogens) requires “[a]n opportunity for interactive questions and answers with the person conducting the training session;” and many other standards have analogous requirements.

Employers need to examine the standards applicable to their workplaces to be familiar with these specific requirements.

If you’re unable to effectively communicate your safety programs/training to your employees in a language they understand regardless of the industry or work environment (Spanish/Polish) then please contact a safety consulting company that has bilingual OSHA Outreach Trainers to ensure you’re not only complying with the OSHA standards, but to protect your employees, reduce their exposure, reduce your company’s liability and exposure to fines and possibly criminal prosecution.

#safety, #training, #OSHA, #language, #lockout/tagout, #respiratory protection, #Bloodbornepathogens