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Fatal injuries among Hispanic workers in the U.S. construction industry:
Findings from FACE investigation reports
Ahmed Jalil Al-Bayati, ⁎David Daniel York
Kimmel School of Construction Management, Western Carolina Univ., Cullowhee, NC 28723, United States
abstractarticle info
Article history:
Received 3 April 2018
Received in revised form 30 June 2018
Accepted 12 September 2018
Available online 04 October 2018
Introduction: Identifying and understanding the characteristics ofworkplace accidents can provide vital informa-
tion required to clarify their causes and prevent similar accidents from happening in the future. The Hispanic
workforce represents a significant segment of the U.S. construction labor force that is projected to continue in-
creasing in population. The government statistical data show higher rates of fatalities among Hispanic workers
when comparedto other ethnic groups. Method: This study aims to provide details about the trends of fatal inju-
ries among Hispanic workers. The study examined 92 government investigation reports to reveal the general
trends, then an examination of fatal fall injuries within the study sample was conducted since falling is the pre-
dominant cause of fatal injuries. Results: The findings suggest differences in accident characteristics between His-
panic workers and all workers, which could indicate a need for different interventions to improve the overall site
safety.The study also revealedthe dire need to propose revised investigation proceduresthat would help identify
the root causes of accidents, which in turn leads to better recommendations and interventions.
© 2018 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The Hispanic workforce continues to increase in the U.S. construc-
tion industry, filling the demand for construction workers with an aver-
age representation of 30% in 2015 (Dong, Wang, & Goldenhar, 2016). At
the same time, the data indicate that Hispanic workers face higher rates
of fatal injuries when compared to other ethnic groups in the construc-
tion industry (Al-Bayati, Abudayyeh, Fredericks, & Butt, 2017a; CPWR,
2013; Flynn, 2014; Morrison, 2015). Many factors are contributing to
the increased likelihood of Hispanic workers sustaining injuries in com-
parison to other ethnic groups. This may include young age, experience
and education, immigration status, language and cultural barriers, and
work type (Al-Bayati, Abudayyeh, Fredericks, & Butt, 2017b;
Anderson, Hunting, & Welch, 2000; Flynn, 2014; Hurley & Lebbon,
2012; Jaselskis, Strong, Aveiga, Canales, & Jahren, 2008;
Kouyoumdjian, Zamboanga, & Hansen, 2003; McGlothlin, Hubbard,
Aghazadeh, & Hubbard, 2009; Morrison, 2015; Nash, 2004; Smith,
Perry, & Moyer, 2006). On the other hand, current data suggest that
nonfatal injuries are lower among Hispanic workers (CPWR, 2013).
This suggestion may not be reliable since there is a potential of signifi-
cant underreporting due to financial and legal concerns (Al-Bayati et
al., 2017a). For example, in 2004, a 16-year-old Hispanic worker went
home, instead of going to a hospital or emergency room, after falling ap-
proximately 10 ft from a scaffold and injuring his head. He died shortly
thereafter (FACE, 2017a). As of today, few, if any, studies have investi-
gated the characteristics of fatal injuries among Hispanic workers in
the U.S. construction industry. Therefore, an investigation of fatal inju-
ries among Hispanic construction workers is crucial to understanding
the trends of injuries among this important segment of the U.S. work-
force. Accordingly, this study will aid construction safety professionals,
as well as government agencies, by suggesting better tools to improve
overall site safety of the Hispanic workforce.
Knowing the characteristics of fatal injuries is crucial for preventing
future accidents (Bunn, Costich, & Slavova, 2006). As a result, the Na-
tional Institutionof Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) established
the Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program to in-
vestigate work-related fatal injuries (Dong et al., 2017). The goal of
the program is to prevent fatal injuries by examining work environ-
ment, victim characteristics, the task the victim was performing, and
the tool the victim was using when assessing accidents, as well as pro-
viding strategies to aid employers in correcting similar situations,
thereby reducing fatalities. Currently, seven states have an agreement
with NIOSH to conduct FACE investigations, including New York, Cali-
fornia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Washington, and Oregon
(FACE, 2017b). NIOSH also directly performs investigations in other
states. Given its nature, this voluntary program does not enforce
Journal of Safety Research 67 (2018) 117–123
⁎Corresponding author.
E-mail address: ajalbayati@wcu.edu (A.J. Al-Bayati).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2018.09.007
0022-4375/© 2018 National Safety Council and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Safety Research
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jsr
compliance or determine fault. In general, the investigation is focused
on the following four areas:
•Employer information, including the number of employees working
for the employer, as well as how many employees were on site at
the time of the incident.
•Victim information, including the victim's primary language, job title,
and age.
•Employer safety program, including the existence of the program and
whether the employer hires someone within the company to imple-
ment it or not.
•Employer safety training records, including training measures and
whether or not the victim received the proper training.
Once this information is collected, FACE reports provide recommen-
dations to improve overall site safety based on the investigation find-
ings. The fatality investigation reports of Hispanic workers can provide
valuable insight information into injuries causation and circumstances.
Therefore, analyzing the available reports is a vital step to provide
safer working conditions for construction Hispanic workers.
2. Fatal injuries among Hispanic construction workers
For a better understanding of the disparity in fatalities between His-
panic construction workers and white, non-Hispanic workers, an odds
ratio was calculated by the authors using the numbers of fatalities
among Hispanic and white workers, along with their representation in
the construction industry. Workers were defined according to the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics; individuals classified as white are those having
origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or
North Africa. Formula 1, shown below, was used to calculate the odds
ratio for the years between 2005 and 2016. The numbers of fatalities
and workers were extracted from United States Department of Labor
(USDOL) website (USDOL, 2005a, 2005b).
Odds Ratio ¼p=1−pðÞ
q=1−qðÞ ð1Þ
where:
p: Percentage of fatalities among Hispanic workers in a specific
year (Fatality cases/Hispanic population)
q: Percentage of fatalities among whiteworkers in a particular year
(Fatality cases/white population)
Fig. 1, shown below, depicts the yearly odds ratio over the 2005 to
2016 period. The odds ratio is a valid measure of association between
the determinant and outcome, irrespective of study type. The overall
resulting odds ratio for the 2005 to 2016 period was 1.118 (95% CI,
1.072–1.166). This result indicates that Hispanic workers, on average,
are 1.118 times more likely to be killed on U.S. construction sites
when compared to white, non-Hispanic workers. The 95% confidence
interval of 1.072 to 1.166 means that one can be 95% confident that
the true odds ratio lies somewhere between 1.079 and 1.179. The 95%
confidence intervals that fall below 1.00 are commonly interpreted as
statistically significant.
3. Research methodology
This study examined fatality investigation reports that have been
produced by the FACE program to provide an overview of fatal injury
characteristics among Hispanic construction workers. Also, this study
focused on fatal fall injuries, due to the fact that falls are a leading
cause of fatalities on U.S. construction sites, as suggested by several
studies, including Kang, Siddiqui, Suk, Chi, and Kim (2017) and Hu,
Rahmandad, Smith-Jackson, and Winchester (2011). The authors have
followed the methods utilized in previous studies such as Huang and
Hinze (2003),Kang et al. (2017),andDong, Largay, Wang, Cain, and
Romano (2017) which investigated fatal trends among all workers. Ac-
cordingly, this study compares trends of fatalities between Hispanic
workers and all other construction workers. The comparison aims to as-
sists industry professionals in identifying the areas where Hispanic
workers face higher rates of fatalities, which could be further evaluated
to help identify the root causes of accidents. At the time of this study, the
research team found 101 reports that took place at construction
worksites out of approximately 250 FACE reports involving Hispanic
workers. Coded datum was cross-checked during meetings between
the research team, and questionable data were removed from the final
dataset. As a result, data were extracted from 92 investigation reports
by predetermining the required information and the associated param-
eters. Each report was then manually reviewed and coded into a
Microsoft Excel file. If an investigation report involved more than one
decedent, then datum was coded individually for each fatality. Only
one report within the data set included two fatalities. Accordingly, 93
cases have been analyzed in this study.
1.26
1.24
1.11
1.08
1.15
0.96
1.10
1.18
1.22
0.96
1.10
1.02
0.90
1.15
1.40
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Odds Ratio
Year
Fig. 1. The odds ratio of Hispanic workers in comparison with White workers.
118 A.J. Al-Bayati, D.D. York / Journal of Safety Research 67 (2018) 117–123
4. Findings
The 93 cases explored in this study were conducted between 1992
and 2014. The study examines victims' characteristics (e.g., age and
years of experience), employer characteristics (e.g., employer size and
expertise), and accident causes and conditions. In addition, the study fo-
cused on the characteristics of fall accidents. The findings were then
compared to previous studies that have investigated the trends of fatal
injuries in the construction industry. The comparison is necessary to re-
veal possible differences in trends between theHispanic workforce and
the construction workforce in general.
4.1. General trends of fatal injuries among Hispanic eorkers
4.1.1. Accident causes and conditions
The direct causes of accidents within the study sample, as well as
their frequencies, are illustrated in Table 1. The overall results suggest
that falling is the primary cause of fatal injuries and accounts for 40
(43.0%) of the study sample. Other major causes include fatal struck
by injuries 37 (39.8%), caught in or between 7 (7.5%), electrocution 5
(5.4%), and other 4 (4.3%). These findings are in agreement with the
four leading causes of fatal injuries that have been identified by the Oc-
cupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which are fall,
struck by, caught in or between, and electrocution (OSHA, 2011). Fur-
thermore, the comparison of this finding with two previous studies
that investigated trends in fatal accidents in the construction industry,
namely, Huang and Hinze (2003) and Kang et al. (2017), indicates
that struck by is significantly higher among Hispanic workers (see
Table 1).
According to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), construc-
tion companies can be classified, based on a company's primary busi-
ness activity, into the following categories: general contractors and
operative builders, heavy construction, and specialty trade contractors.
Most of the fatalities in this study sample, 58 (62.4%), occurred on gen-
eral contractor construction sites, while 25 (26.9%) occurred on spe-
cialty trade contractors' construction sites, and 10 (10.8%) occurred on
heavy construction sites (see Table 2). Most of the examined reports
provide information about written safety programs and safety training
documentation. However, there was no information regarding safety
programs in 9 (9.7%) of the reports. There were 50 reports (53.8%)
that indicated the availability of a written safety program, while 34 re-
ports (36.6%) showed that a written safety program was not available.
Only 41 of the reports (44.1%) confirmed the availability of safety train-
ing documentation, and 46.5 of the reports (49.5%) indicated that train-
ing documentation was not available. Training in victims' native
language (i.e., Spanish), which is crucial for their safety, was not inves-
tigated in 55(59.1%) of the reports. Accordingly, only 15 (16.1%) reports
indicated that safetytraining in Spanish was provided, while 23 reports
(24.7%) indicated that no training in Spanish was provided. Finally, the
data regarding the accident locations showed that 37 (39.8%) of the ac-
cidents happened on the same work level, followed by 25 (26.9%) acci-
dents on roofs, 9 (9.7%) on scaffoldings, and 7 (7.5%) on trenching and
excavations. For more information about accident location, see Table 2.
4.1.2. Victims' and employers' characteristics
The information regarding victims' education was limited to few re-
ports, while most reports (76; 81.7%) had no information about victims'
education. Similarly, the country of origin was not reported in 58
(62.4%) out of the 93 cases. Mexico was the country of origin for 20
cases (21.5%), followed by Guatemala 7 (7.5%), United States 3 (3.2%),
Honduras 2 (2.2%), and others 3 (3.3%) (see Table 3). This finding con-
firms the literature, which suggests that a high percentage of Hispanic
construction workers come from Mexico. The victims' years of experi-
ence was stated in 55 (59.1%) reports. The data regarding victims'
Table 1
The frequency of fatal injuries' direct cause.
Direct cause This study
(Hispanic) (%)
Kang et al. (2017)
(All) (%)
Huang and Hinze
(2003) (All) (%)
Fall 43.0 44.6 36.3
Struck by 39.8 22.8 24.3
Caught in or
between
7.5 11.1 11.6
Electrocution 5.4 6.8 13.4
Others 3.4 14.6 14.5
Table 2
Fatal injuries' characteristics according to the study Ssmple.
Characteristic Number (%)
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
General contractors & operative builders 58 (62.4)
Specialty trade contractors 25 (26.9)
Heavy construction 10 (10.8)
Written safety program
Yes 50 (53.8)
No 34 (36.6)
Not reported 9 (9.7)
Safety training documentation
Yes 41 (44.1)
No 46 (49.5)
Not reported 6 (6.5)
Training in Spanish
Yes 15 (16.1)
No 23 (24.7)
Not reported 55 (59.1)
Accidents' location
Same work level 37 (39.8)
Roof 25 (26.9)
Scaffolding 9 (9.7)
Ladder 6 (6.5)
Trenching and excavations 7 (7.5)
Equipment 5 (5.4)
Aerial lift 3 (3.2)
Road 1(1.1)
Table 3
Victims' and employers' characteristics according to the study sample.
Characteristics Number (%)
Victims' education
High school 9 (9.7)
Middle school 4 (4.3)
Elementary school 2 (2.2)
No education 2 (2.2)
Not reported 76 (81.7)
Country of origin
Mexico 20 (21.5)
Guatemala 7 (7.5)
USA 3 (3.2)
Honduras 2 (2.2)
Costa Rica, Cuba, and Ecuador 3 (3.3)
Not reported 58 (62.4)
Years of experience –victims
Less than 5 years 23 (24.7)
5–10 years 20 (21.5)
More than 10 years 12 (12.9)
Not reported 38 (40.9)
Years of experience –employers
Less than 5 years 10 (10.8)
5–10 years 16 (17.2)
More than 10 years 48 (51.6)
Not reported 19 (20.4)
119A.J. Al-Bayati, D.D. York / Journal of Safety Research 67 (2018) 117–123
years of experience indicate that 23 (24.7%) victims had less than five
years of experience in the U.S. construction industry, followed by 20
(21.5%) with experience between five and 10 years, and 12 (12.9%) vic-
tims with experience of more than 10 years. The reported years of expe-
rience show that a high percentage of victims had less than five years of
experience (see Table 3). Within this study sample, the victims' re-
ported ages indicate that the majority of cases (54; 58.1%), involved vic-
tims aged between 25 and 44 years, followed by 20 (21.5%) cases where
the victim's age was less than 25 years, 15 (16.1%) cases where the age
was between 45 and 64 years, and 4 (4.3%) cases where the age was
more than 65 years. Comparing the age ranges in this study with and
Dong, Largay, Choi, et al. (2017), who investigated FACE reports in gen-
eral, indicates that the numbers of fatalities among Hispanic workers
who are aged 44 years or younger are higher than the industry average
(see Table 4). The victims' reported occupations show that the majority
(48; 52.6%), were general construction labors, followed by carpenters
12 (12.9%), equipment operators 11(11.8%), roofers 10 (10.8%), and
others (13%). A comparison of the occupation of victims between this
study and Dong, Largay, Choi, et al. (2017), indicates that most of the
Hispanic victims were filling blue-collar positions and very few, if any,
working as a supervisor (see Table 4). Accordingly, Hispanic workers
are filling blue-collar positions and, as a result, they a re facing the signif-
icant four hazards in workplaces (i.e., fall, electrocution, struck by, and
caught in or between) more than other ethnic groups.
Employers' years of experience were reported in 74 (79.5%) reports.
The findings indicate that 48 (51.6%) of employers had more than 10
years of experience, followed by 16 (17.2%) who had between 5 and
10 years of experience, and 10 (10.8%) who had less than five years of
experience. According to the study sample, employer size indicated
that 26 (28.0%) of the cases occurred within construction firms that
hire up to 20 employees, while 32 (34.4%) of the cases occurred within
construction firms that hire between 21 and 200 employees. The study
also revealed 20 (21.5%) of the cases occurred within construction firms
that employ more than 200 employees, and 15 (16.1%) reports did not
include employer size information. A comparison between employer
sizes in this study and Dong, Largay, Choi, et al. (2017) revealed that
there is a higher number of fatalities among Hispanic construction
workers in firms that hire between 21 and 200 employees, but there is
a lower number of fatalities in smaller size firms that hire less 21 em-
ployees, see Table 4.
4.2. General trends of fall fatal injuries
In this section, several characteristics regarding the fall accidents in-
cluded within the study sample will be explored. In addition, a compar-
ison between fall accidents among Hispanic construction workers and
all construction workers will be conducted. Falling is the leading cause
of fatalities in the construction industry. The findings of this study sup-
port the claim that falls are a leading cause of fatal injuries, with more
than 40% of the study sample being the result of a fall. To address the
high probability of fall injuries OSHA requires fall protection systems,
such as personal fall arrest system and guardrail system where an un-
protected side or edge is higher than six feet or more above the lower
level. Accordingly, fall protection systems are often required when
workers operate from elevated platforms.
Fall accidents, classified according to SIC code, are presented in Table
5. Most of the fall fatalities, 27 (67.5%), have occurred on general con-
tractor construction sites, and 13 (32.5%) occurred on specialty trade
contractor construction sites. None of the fall fatalities investigated dur-
ing this study occurred on heavy construction sites. A comparison of this
finding with the two previous studies (i.e., Huang & Hinze, 2003; Kang
et al., 2017) indicate that fall fatalities among Hispanic workers are sig-
nificantly higher in general contractors' sites; these findings are incon-
sistent with all construction workers' trends (see Table 5). The data
analyzed during this study also suggest that fall fatalities involving His-
panic workers occur infrequently on heavy construction projects. The
data concerning the heights from which fatal fall accidents occurred re-
veal that 14 (35%) of fall accidents occurred from a height between 20
and 30 ft, followed by 12 (30%) from between 10 and 20 ft, 5 (12.5%)
Table 4
Victims' and employers' characteristics –a comparison.
Characteristics This study
(Hispanic) (%)
Dong, Largay, Wang, et al. (2017)
(All) (%)
Age
Less than 25 years 21.5 16.4
25–44 years 58.1 48.8
45–64 years 16.1 24.6
65+ years 4.3 3.3
Not reported 0 6.9
Occupation
General labor 52.6 24.2
Structural metal
workers
0 7.9
Supervisor 0 12.7
Carpenters 12.9 7.1
Roofers 10.8 5.3
Equipment operator 11.8 0
Others 24.7 42.8
Employers' size
Up to 20 28 46.2
21 to 200 employees 34.4 28.9
More than 200
employees
21.5 12.1
Unknown/not
reported
16.1 12.8
Table 5
Characteristics of fall fatal injuries among Hispanic workers.
Characteristic This study
(Hispanic) (%)
Kang et al.
(2017) (All) (%)
Huang and Hinze
(2003) (All) (%)
SIC code
General contractors 67.5 19 N/A
specialty trade
contractors
32.5 75.4 Roughly 80
Heavy construction 0 5.5 N/A
Fall height (ft)
Less than 10 ft 12.5 22.1 23
10–20 30 42.5 28
20–30 35 19.9 22
30–40 7.5 6.8 9
40–50 7.5 2.3 5
50–60 5 1.3 2.5
More than 60 2.5 4.9 10.5
Project type
New project or addition 22.5 59 59
Alteration or
rehabilitation
25 18.2 18
Maintenance or repair 25 16.2 15.6
Demolition 10 2.5 3.4
Others 12.5 3.6 3.4
Not reported 5 0.5 0.3
Construction end use
Commercial building 32.5 31.4 33.3
Single family/duplex
dwelling
27.5 28.3 17.4
Multifamily dwelling 12.5 10.1 9.3
Manufacturing/Industrial 15 3.3 6.5
Other buildings 5 26.9 34.4
Not reported 7.5 0 0
Accident location
Roof 62.5 24.7 28.4
Scaffold 20 14.3 13
Ladder 12.5 16 11.3
Fall with structure 2.5 16.4 19.3
Aerial left 2.5 5.3 3.2
Others 0 23.3 24.8
120 A.J. Al-Bayati, D.D. York / Journal of Safety Research 67 (2018) 117–123
from less than 10 ft, and 9 (22.5%) from more than 30 ft. These findings
indicate that fall fatalities from less than 10 ft are less frequent among
Hispanic workers than among all workers (see Table 5). This study
also found that fatalities between 20 and 30 ft are higher among His-
panic workers.
This study also evaluated the occurrence of fall fatalities by project
type. Within the study sample, 10 (25%) of the fatalities occurred on al-
teration or rehabilitation projects, 10 (25%) occurred on maintenance or
repair projects, 9 (22.5%) on new projects or additions, 4 (10%) on de-
molition projects, 5 (12.5%) on other projects, and 2 (5%) were not re-
ported. A comparison between the findings of this study and the two
previous studies revealed that fatalities among Hispanic workers were
well distributed amongdifferent project types (see Table 5). When eval-
uated, based on construction end use, the data indicate that 13 (32.5%)
cases occurred in commercial projects, 11 (27.5%) occurred in single
family/duplex dwelling projects, 5 (12.5%) cases in multifamily dwell-
ing, 6 (15%) in manufacturing and industrial projects, 2 (5%) in other
projects, and there were 3 (7.5%) cases with no information about pro-
ject end use. These findings are in agreement with those of both Kang et
al. (2017) and Huang and Hinze (2003), except the number of cases in
manufacturing/industrial projects, which is higher among Hispanic
workers (see Table 5). Within the study sample, a majority of the fall fa-
talities within the study sample occurred from roofs 25 (62.5%),
followed by scaffolding 8 (20%), and ladders 5 (12.5). The comparison
revealed that the likelihood of falling from roofs is much higher
among Hispanic workers than among all construction workers. On the
other hand, falls from roofs, scaffolds, and ladders account for 95% of
fall fatalities among Hispanic workers while falls from these platforms
account for up to 55% among all workers. This finding may be a result
of the type of occupations that are filled by Hispanic workers (see
Table 5). Within the available data, the fall fatality reports suggest that
34 (85%) of victims did not have their required personal protective
(PPE) systems on, despite the fact that a written safety program was
available in 19 (47.5%) cases and a documented safety training was
available in 14 (35%) of the cases.
5. Discussion
This study investigated the characteristics of fatal injuries among
Hispanic workers. The purpose is to compare the characteristics of
fatal injuries among Hispanic workers with the characteristics among
all workers that have been reported in previous studies. Accordingly,
the study highlights the areas where Hispanic workers face higher
rates of fatalities in order to assist industry professionals in identifying
the root causes of accidents, and in determining corrective actions.
The findings suggest several differences when comparing them to the
trends among all construction workers that have been reported in pre-
vious studies. Table 6 illustrates the main differences in trends between
Hispanic workers and all workers. Dong, Largay, Choi, et al. (2017) sug-
gested not to investigate FACE reports of Hispanic or foreign-born
workers due to the fact that demographic data are missing. However,
the authors believe the study sample that produced from investigation
FACE reports is reliable. Accordingly, the patterns identified in this
study are important and must be published. In addition, the study ver-
ifies that many reports have missing data as reported by Dong.
The study confirms that fall accidents are the leading cause of fatal
injuries among Hispanic workers. In addition, struck by accidents have
been identified as the second leading cause of fatalities among Hispanic
workers.The percentage of struck by fatalities among Hispanic workers
is significantly higher than the percentage among all workers that have
been reported in two previous studies (i.e., Huang & Hinze, 2003; Kang
et al., 2017; 39.8 vs. 22.8% & 24.3%). Further investigation is required to
reveal the cause of this finding. The findings also show that there are
slightly more fatal injuries among younger Hispanic workers (see
Table 6). This finding supports the suggestion that Hispanic construc-
tion workers are younger than other ethnic groups (CPWR, 2013). In
general, young workers suffer disproportionately from fatal and nonfa-
tal work-related injuries (NIOSH and ASSE, 2015). Thus, the younger
age of workers is considered as one of the leadingcauses of higher fatal-
ity rates among Hispanic workers. Hispanic workers would be less likely
to receive adequate training because of their youth (O'Connor, Loomis,
Runyan, Janet, & Schulman, 2005). In addition, their younger age
means less experience in recognizing work-related hazards and overall
safety regulations (Al-Bayati et al., 2017a). The data indicate that a ma-
jority of the Hispanic victims were general laborers with a percentage of
52.6%, which is more than double the percentage among all workers (i.
e., 24.2%). This finding is in agreement with the CPWR (2013) finding
regarding the occupations of Hispanic workers, which suggest that oc-
cupation type is one of the root causes of higher rates of fatalities
among Hispanic workers as been suggested by Al-Bayati et al.
(2017b). Most Hispanic workers (96%) are filling worker-type positions
that are more susceptible to OSHA's big four construction hazards: falls,
electrocution, caught in, and struck by.
Employers' years of experience do not seem to be a significant con-
tributingfactor since 51.6% of cases happened in workplaces where em-
ployers have more than 10 years of experience. Similarly, the results
indicate that among Hispanic workers a higher percentage of fatalities
occur where the employers' size is between 21 and 200 employees,
while the trend among all workers suggests a higher percentage of fatal-
ities with employers that have 20 or fewer employees. In general, these
findings may suggest that the characteristics of Hispanic workers con-
tributed to work-related accidents significantly more than employers'
characteristics. Al-Bayati et al. (2017a) suggested several characteristics
that lead to higher rates of fatalities among Hispanic workers such as
immigration status, job security, cultural and language barriers, and
years of experience. These characteristics increase the overload and
emotional fatigue among Hispanic workers. According to Goetsch
(2013), three factors may increase work-related accidents and human
errors: overload, inappropriate responses, and inappropriate activities.
Accordingly, Goetsch (2013) suggests that internal, environmental,
and situational elements lead to workers' overload. The authors believe
that internal elements, such as immigration status and young age, and
environmental and situational elements, such as cultural and language
barriers, have a higher contribution to work-related accidents among
Table 6
Summary of main differences in trends between Hispanic and all workers.
Dimension Remark
Struck by fatalities –
all fatal
The percentage of struck by fatalities among Hispanic
workers is significantly higher than the percentage of all
worker
Workers age –all
fatal
The percentage of Hispanic victims with age less than 44
years old is 79.6%, while the percentage among all workers
is 65.2%
Workers' occupation
–all fatal
The study found that higher percentage of Hispanic victims
were general labors (52.6%), while this percentage drop
down to 24.2% among all workers.
Employers' size –all
fatal
The percentage of Hispanic workers' fatalities was higher
among employers who hire between 21 to 200 employees,
while it was higher among employers who employ less
than 21 employees for all workers
SIC code –fall fatal Fatalities among Hispanic workers in general contractors'
workplaces are significantly higher than all workers where
their percentage is higher in specialty trade contractors'
workplaces.
Fall height Fall height range between 20 and 30 ft represents the
highest frequency among Hispanic workers, while fall
height range between 10 and 20 ft represented the highest
frequency among all workers. On the other hand, the
percentage of fewer than 10 ft range was significantly less
among Hispanic workers.
Accident location –
fall fatal
Most of the fall fatalities among Hispanic workers were
from the roof. Roof fall fatalities represent 62.5% among
Hispanic workers, while represents less than 30% among all
workers.
121A.J. Al-Bayati, D.D. York / Journal of Safety Research 67 (2018) 117–123
Hispanic workers than employers' characteristics (Al-Bayati et al.
2017b). Each of these elements (i.e., characteristics) eventually impacts
the safety performance of Hispanic workers. For example, immigration
status significantly influences the ability of Hispanic workers to reach
government agencies such as OSHAwhen an unsafe condition is noticed
(Al-Bayati et al., 2017b). On the other hand, cultural barriers and lan-
guage barriers significantly influence the communication between His-
panic workers and their supervisors (Al-Bayati et al., 2017a).
Accordingly, it is the employers' and government agencies' (such as
OSHA) responsibility to adopt novel strategies to reduce the influence
of these elements on overall site safety. When safety management sys-
tems do not account for these elements, it becomes a system error,
rather than a human error.
Fall fatalities among Hispanic workers are significantly higher on
general contractors' sites which could be a result of the fact that His-
panic workers are filling general labor positions. It has also been found
that fall accidents from heights between 10 and 30 ft are more frequent
among Hispanic workers, and fall accidents occurring from heights less
than 10 ft are less frequent among Hispanic workers.On the other hand,
the data indicate that the majority of fatal fall accidents within the study
sample, with a percentage of 62.5%, occurred when the victim was
working from a roofing platform. Fatal falls from roofing platforms are
also the predominant cause among all construction workers, but its per-
centage is significantly higher among Hispanic workers. Therefore, an
intervention is required to improve the safety performance of Hispanic
roofers.
The findings discussed in this section contributes to the industry's
knowledge regarding the trends of fatal injuries among Hispanic
workers. Additionally, the comparison between Hispanic workers and
all workers helps industry professionals and government agencies iden-
tify areas where the Hispanic workforce is at higher risk and develop
new strategies to improve the safety of the Hispanic workforce.
6. Recommendations
FACE investigation reports should go beyond examining the direct
causes of accidents, such as fall or struck by, and identify their root
causes. An investigation strategy that reveals root causes to improve
the effectiveness of suggested remedies is needed; otherwise, the effec-
tiveness of recommended remedies is questionable (Gibb, Lingard,
Behm, & Cooke, 2014; Marin, Lipscomb, Cifuentes, & Punnett, 2017).
In addition, fatal injuries involving Hispanic workers should be investi-
gated using a particular investigation form that solicits information re-
garding identified root causes related to Hispanic workers to assess
their weighted influence. Low education levels, inadequate experience,
young age, language proficiency and literacy issues, immigration status,
cultural differences, and lack of access to training have been identified
as root causes that lead to higher fatality rates among Hispanic workers
(Al-Bayati, Abudayyeh, & Albert, 2018; Cunningham et al., 2018; Flynn,
2014; Hurley & Lebbon, 2012; Jaselskis et al., 2008; McGlothlin et al.,
2009; Morrison, 2015). Therefore, the FACE investigation strategy
should be evaluated and updated to include research findings made
over the last decade regarding causation of work-related accidents. Con-
struction scholars have explored various accident factors such as haz-
ard-recognition performance (Albert & Hallowell, 2017), the nature
and influence of cultural differences (Al-Bayati et al., 2018), and the
needs of high-risk groups (Cunningham et al., 2018). Therefore,
revisiting program strategies, investigation processes, and investigators'
ability is a vital step in delivering in-depth information that uncovers
the root causes, not just the direct cause. This is important because the
effectiveness of recommendations is highly dependent on the insights
provided throughout the initial investigation processes (Dien, Dechy,
& Guillaume, 2012). Consequently, the reports could be improved by
going beyond the repetitive and general instructions. According to
Dong, Largay, Wang, et al. (2017), safety training, personal protective
equipment (PPE), job hazard analysis, and safety inspection were
commonly recommended. The investigation reports must be more
case specific and address the unique conditions of each case. This ap-
proach could provide a better understanding of accident causation.
Additionally, the findings of this study reveal the following recom-
mendations to improve overall site safety:
•An intervention to improve the performance of Hispanic roofers is re-
quired. This intervention could be through new trainingmodules and
increased supervisory efforts.
•The influence of Hispanic workers' characteristics on work-related ac-
cidents requires special attention from government agencies and re-
search centers to reduce undesirable effects. According to the
findings of this study, these characteristics contributed more than em-
ployers' characteristics to work-related accidents. Therefore, em-
ployers must effectively manage their employees to ensure their
safety and health. Accordingly, providing employers with the appro-
priate resources to effectively managing young non-native workers
is necessary (Cunningham et al., 2018). This necessity requires a
greater effort in creating tailored management techniques. Also, tai-
lored training material is needed as has been suggested by
Cunningham et al. (2018).
•Construction supervisors and government agencies should be aware
of Hispanic workers' characteristics, such as young age, English lan-
guage skills, and cultural barriers, and their influence on overall site
safety. Thus, close supervision efforts, explicit instruction, bilingual
training, and cultural awareness are required.
7. Limitation
The results reported in this paper should be interpreted in light of
two main limitations. First, the study's sample size, which only repre-
sents a small proportion of fatalities among Hispanic workers. Second,
the authors have noticed that the information provided in the FACE in-
vestigation reports lack consistency in both format and content. More-
over, the indirect wording used in the reports often makes it
challenging to identify contributing factors and heightens the probabil-
ity of misapprehensions. Examples of inconsistencies found in the pro-
vided information include a report that does not mention anything
about the employers' safety and training programs, as well as another
report that states two different ages for the same decedent (see FACE,
2017c,2017d). According to a FACE project officer, this is because
some investigators ask about these characteristics and some do not. As
a result, investigators may collect information subjectively. Therefore,
there are several characteristics that are not stated in all reports. It
would be beneficial to have a unified investigation form that collects
necessary information with a strategy toidentify root causes. Hopefully,
the recent improvements incorporated into FACE program as has been
suggested by Dong, Largay, Wang, et al. (2017) will providebetter infor-
mation in the near future. However, these suggested improvements
seem not to be noticeable in the reports that have been reviewed in
this study. Therefore, the quality of FACE reports in thisstudy represents
the second main limitation.
8. Conclusion
A quantitative dataset of 93 cases has been extracted from the 92 fa-
tality investigation reports generated by the FACE program where the
victims were construction Hispanic workers. The data examination
within the study sample indicates several differences in trends between
Hispanic workers and all workers including the percentage of stuck by
cases, age and occupation of victims, employers' size, fall height, and
others. As a result, the study suggests interventions to address the
trends related to the Hispanic workforce. In addition, the investigation
found an inconsistency in information reported by the program investi-
gators, which indicates a dire need to reevaluate the current
122 A.J. Al-Bayati, D.D. York / Journal of Safety Research 67 (2018) 117–123
investigation procedures and strategies, especially for accidents that in-
volved Hispanic workers due to their characteristics and accident
trends. Therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledgerelat-
ing to construction workplace safety and is intended to aid industry pro-
fessionals and government agencies in improving overall site safety in
U.S. construction workplaces. Further investigation and studies are
needed to validate and propose practical solutions to the issues that
have been revealed and discussed in this manuscript.
Data availability statement
Data analyzed during the study were provided by a third party.
Requests for data should be directed to the provider indicated in the
Acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Nancy T. Romano from NIOSH who
provided the authors with the reports that have been investigated in
this study.
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