Results of a community-based survey of construction safety climate for Hispanic workers. (September 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Marin, Luz S.; Cifuentes, Manuel; Roelofs, Cora
• Is Part Of: International journal of occupational and environmental health. Volume 21:Number 3(2015)
• Page Start: 223
• Page End: 231
• Publication Date: 2015-09
• Subjects: Immigrant workers, -- Non-retaliation, -- Occupational injury disparities, -- Residential construction, -- Safety perception, -- Shared perception; Industrial hygiene -- Periodicals; Industrial toxicology -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Consumer goods -- Health aspects -- Periodicals; 613
• DOI: 10.1179/2049396714Y.0000000086
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-3525

Abstract

Abstract : Background: Hispanic construction workers experience high rates of occupational injury, likely influenced by individual, organizational, and social factors. Objectives: To characterize the safety climate of Hispanic construction workers using worker, contractor, and supervisor perceptions of the workplace. Methods: We developed a 40-item interviewer-assisted survey with six safety climate dimensions and administered it in Spanish and English to construction workers, contractors, and supervisors. A safety climate model, comparing responses and assessing contributing factors was created based on survey responses. Results: While contractors and construction supervisors' ( n = 128) scores were higher, all respondents shared a negative perception of safety climate. Construction workers had statistically significantly lower safety climate scores compared to supervisors and contractors (30·6 vs 46·5%, P <0·05). Safety climate scores were not associated with English language ability or years lived in the United States. Conclusions: We found that Hispanic construction workers in this study experienced a poor safety climate. The Hispanic construction safety climate model we propose can serve as a framework to guide organizational safety interventions and evaluate safety climate improvements.