OSHA requires employers to train employees in a language they understand. In the Hazard Communication Standard, OSHA inserted the requirement that people be trained in a language they understand. The new Confined Space Standard for Construction requires that employees be trained in a language they understand.
Construction requires that employees be trained in a language they understand.
“Common sense should prevail—you can’t be training people in a language they don’t understand,” says Dan Ramir, director of the Latino Worker Resource Center. From its headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Hillside—located in the same building as the Construction Safety Council—the Latino Worker Resource Center trains workers using the Spanish language.
“A Latino worker’s signature on a sign-in sheet does not mean that they understood the training.” says Ramir. “And when asked, it is not unusual for Latino workers to say they understood the English safety training when they actually didn’t; many are afraid of causing waves and possibly losing their job.”
It’s up to contractors to make sure their workers are trained and that they understood the training, and then to document all trainings in their company records, says Ramir. “A contractor is also responsible to verify that a new employee who claims to have been trained elsewhere shows knowledge on the topic. This could be done by asking questions relative to the training. Also, if the contractor observes a worker doing something unsafe, it is the contractor’s responsibility to correct the workers’ actions and if needed, retrain them.
“Safety training is an ongoing process that develops quality workers,” says Ramir. “Language barriers make training difficult for most companies and contractors must be sure that the workers understand the training. If a worker must be told what to do in Spanish, it is a good sign that they should be trained in Spanish.”
OSHA regulations state that a competent person can do the safety training. Ideally, the contractor has developed a competent person who can speak both English and Spanish, says Ramir. “A contractor could possibly train one or two of their workers who are bilingual and have these workers train the other limited English speaking workers.”
Or you can send workers to a school like the Latino Worker Resource Center also known as El Obrero Latino. “A lot of people don’t know we’re here,” says Ramir. Our training center was created and developed under OSHA’s Susan Harwood Grants. Because of these grants and with the help of the Construction Safety Council, we have been able to create quality safety compliance classes in Spanish and have trained thousands of workers. We are currently conducting Free Spanish Fall Protection Training under a Susan Harwood Grant. Workers can come here without fear of discrimination or embarrassment and receive high-quality safety training in a language they understand. We want contractors to know that we are here and that we’re available to do the training in Spanish. Or at the very least that they can use us as a Spanish language resource center.”
Ramir says that since January 2015 through mid-year, the Latino Worker Resource Center has trained more than 800 workers in Spanish—most of them for fall protection. Ramir says he is constantly developing new class curriculums. “As far as I know there is not another dedicated Spanish OSHA safety compliance school anywhere else in OSHA’s Region 5,” says Ramir. “Our safety trainings include OSHA 10-Hour Construction, OSHA 30-Hour Construction, Hazard Communication, Fall Protection, Work Zone and Flagger Safety, Excavations and Trenching, Confined Space, Electrical Hazard Awareness, Scaffolding, Focus 4, Focus 5, First Aid CPR/AED, Aerial Work Platform Training AWPT, IPAF Certification, and Crane Signaling and Rigging.”
Ramir adds, “We are seeing more contractors, workers, and supervision taking advantage of our Free Spanish Safety Training and other classes. It’s good to see that contractors are realizing the need to teach workers in a language they understand.”
OSHA Delays Enforcement of Confined Space Standard
OSHA announced in July that it would delay the full enforcement of its new Confined Spaces in Construction standard by 60 days, which became effective August 3, 2015. Full enforcement of the new standard was expected to take effect on October 2, 2015, in response to requests for additional time to train and acquire the equipment necessary to comply with the new standard.
During the 60-day temporary enforcement period, OSHA says it would not issue citations to employers who make good faith efforts to comply with the new standard. Employers must be in compliance with either the training requirements of the new standard or the previous standard. Employers who fail to train their employees consistent with either of these two standards will be cited.
Factors that indicate employers are making good faith efforts to comply include scheduling training for employees as required by the new standard, ordering the equipment necessary to comply with the new standard, and taking alternative measures to educate and protect employees from confined space hazards.
OSHA issued the Confined Spaces in Construction final rule on May 4, 2015. The rule provides construction workers with protections similar to those that manufacturing and general industry workers have, with some differences tailored to the construction industry. These include requirements to ensure that multiple employers share vital safety information and to continuously monitor hazards—a safety option made possible by technical advances after the manufacturing and general industry standards were created.
OSHA estimates the confined spaces rule could protect nearly 800 construction workers a year from serious injuries and reduce life-threatening hazards.
Construction employers have voluntarily complied with OSHA’s general industry standard on Permit-Required Confined Spaces since the 1990s. While OSHA’s general industry standard on Permit-Required Confined Spaces and the agency’s new standard on Confined Spaces in Construction are very similar, there are five key differences between the two. The construction standard:
