ATLANTA
Hispanic workers die at higher rates than other laborers, with 1 in 3 of these deaths occurring in the construction industry, a government study reported on June 5.
Researchers said Hispanics tended to hold more high-risk jobs than those in other racial groups, but language and literacy barriers and poor training and supervision might also be factors. The leading causes of death in recent years have been falls and highway-related accidents, the report said.
The study was done by health researchers in Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The study counted more than 11,000 Hispanic work-related deaths nationwide from 1992-2006. The data were culled from death certificates, police reports, workers’ compensation reports and other sources.
The researchers calculated an annual death rate of 5 per 100,000 Hispanic workers in 2006. But the rate for foreign-born Hispanics, roughly 6 per 100,000, was far higher than the 3.5 for those born in the United States.
The rate for non-Hispanic white workers was 4. For Blacks, it was 3.7.
