According to a recent editorial on Impre.com, deaths of Hispanic workers have increased 76% since 1992 despite the fact that the overall workplace death rate has decreased.
Latinos are becoming a larger segment of the United States workforce, but they also represent a disproportionate number of deaths. Five out of every 100,000 Hispanics die at work. For Caucasians, that number is 4.0 and for African-Americans, 3.7.
Latino immigrants also have 70% more fatal workplace accidents than non-immigrant Latinos, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Researchers attribute this statistic to possible language and cultural barriers, as well as a lack of training and supervision.
Another factor is that undocumented immigrants tend to work in construction, which has a higher accident rate than other industries, and tend not to report unsafe conditions because they fear the repercussions.
Death in the workplace, Impre.com, July 21, 2009
Contact our Massachusetts workplace death attorneys if you have lost a loved one to a workplace accident.