Workforce Language Services

 One of our messages about language training is it is an issue of safety. As the workforce absorbs a greater number of Hispanic workers, being able to communicate to ensure safety in manufacturing and construction industries is becoming more important. This article highlights the changes and challenges in the construction industry and how trends are moving the industry towards adoption of occupationally specific language training. You can also contact us for more information about our language training opportunities.

Recent years have seen a large influx of Hispanic workers into the allied trades, particularly drywall and concrete work. In fact, a 2004 study by professors at the Texas A&M University reported that Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority population in the construction industry.

The recruitment of Hispanic workers into the construction industry is complicated, however, by the large number of immigrants who speak English sparingly, if at all. Whether the language factor contributes to the inordinately high percentage of Hispanic fatalities in the construction industry, which was the focus of the Texas A&M study, is open to debate. But no one doubts that it is imperative for supervisors to be able to communicate with workers — and for workers to be able to communicate with each other — on the construction site.

Lately the industry has been shifting direction regarding the language issue. Years ago, the effort was directed without much success at urging Spanish-speaking workers to learn English as a second language. Now, there are programs through Associated General Contractors that provide Spanish-language training for English-speaking construction superintendents and foremen.

In Seattle, a continuing education class presented by the AGC Education Foundation met twice a week during July and August, focused on developing core Spanish language skills and terminology rather than mastering the entire language.

I’ve never looked at the issue of demand for bilingual work candidates, but it’s clear from our work that knowing a second language helps in areas from customer service to employee management. And this article shows that bilingual employees can higher compensation.

The job market is all but begging for bilingual candidates, and the language of Florida’s, and in fact all of the Unites States’, fastest-growing minority is Spanish. That’s according to staffing agencies and consulting firms. According to U.S. Census statistics, in the past three years Florida’s population increased by 1.4 million people, more than a third of them Hispanic. More than 81,000 Hispanics call Polk home, making up 14.5 percent of the county’s total population…

From tourists to immigrants, even if they speak a functional amount of English, the people calling and coming into those offices are increasingly likely to speak another language better or more comfortably. That ease makes for more meaningful interactions and accurate problem-solving.

In some cases, that second language means being able to offer a transferable skill that commands higher compensation. Riegle of Action Staffing has seen such candidates earn anywhere between 50 cents and $1 more per hour.

“It’s a couple thousand dollars a year,” she said.

Even if companies aren’t necessarily rewarding being bilingual in terms of better pay, Peoples said, being fluent in another language can mean a wider variety of opportunities.

“All other things equal, a person who is bilingual is more valuable as an employee,” Peoples said.

But businesses aren’t just expanding their local horizons to better reach the people already in their communities. To be competitive in the increasingly globalized market, a company has to become more like that market.

“U.S.-based companies are learning that people in other countries speak two to five languages generally,” he said.

Some companies take that commitment a step further and hire native speakers.

“The globalization of the marketplace demands a company come to tables not just at other English-speaking markets.”

I’ve written a number of times about the importance of communication in the workplace from a safety perspective, but unfortunately we’ll be hearing these types of stories for a long time.

WPDE ABC TV News Channel 15 Myrtle Beach, Florence SC News
Investigators are trying to figure out what led a driver to lose control and flip his SUV several times.
It happened of Highway 17 Bypass in Horry County Sunday afternoon just north of the former Air Force Base.

Witnesses say the driver of an SUV swerved and lost control. The vehicle to flipped several times and stopped on its side, pinning the driver underneath. Rescue crews air-lifted the man to the Medical University in Charleston.

Rescue crews say the driver did not speak English. It’s a troubling situation for paramedics who must communicate with their patients, and one that’s happening more often in Myrtle Beach.

To try to break through the language barrier, rescuers take spanish classes, they have a spanish program on their computer and they carry around a mini-spanish guide, but it’s still a significant problem.

“Did it come on suddenly is an important question,” said Jeff Cameron. He is learning, but he still needs a cheat sheet. That’s why there’s one in every Myrtle Beach ambulance, just in case.

More often, fighting fires and fighting health emergencies also means fighting a language barrier.

“It is frustrating to have someone that is in dire need of help, but you have to have specific information to move on to the next step of medical treatment,” says Dan Walker, Myrtle Beach Fire.

It’s a significant problem for rescuers and even scarier for the patient.

“A lot of times our guys are using hand signals. They’re trying to calm the person down. It’s like talking to a child almost because of that language barrier. Point to where it hurts kind of stuff,” said Bruce Arnel, Myrtle Beach Fire Battalion Chief.

Because when time is crucial and communication is critical, why waste moments flipping through translation books?

“Even though the language barrier is there,” said Cameron, “the physical communication helps out a lot.”

Paramedics and fire fighters also rely on family members or neighbors who may speak English. Plus there are translators across the city who can be called in emergency situations.

At WLS, we offer occupational Spanish classes that provide specific language tools based on your job needs. Not only is this important for providing better customer service, but also for many situations where it can be life or death.

Here’s a story of the Houston Chamber of Commerce, an organization that sees an opportunity and goes for it. They see a need - language skills to promote Hispanic businesses - and they offer a solution: a free business development course offered in Spanish. And it turns out what they get out of it is not only helping the Hispanic community, but they get an increase in paying membership. Read more.

According to a recent nationwide study of immigrant entrepreneurship by New York’s Center for an Urban Future, the language barrier was an important obstacle in the way of increased business ownership in Houston.

“A number of services that immigrant business owners might find useful are still only available in English, even though Hispanics now make up nearly 40 percent of Houston’s population and Asians were the city’s fastest growing group during the ’90s,” the study found.

Although most of the Hispanic chamber’s membership gab mostly in English with a bit of Spanish thrown in during mixers, galas and seminars, the organization decided last year Spanish-language business classes were needed.

Students receive instruction in developing a business plan, securing a loan, marketing, bookeeping and other skills.

…Though the classes are designed to help the entrepreneur, the Hispanic chamber also benefits.”We thought it was a great opportunity of reaching a new market,” said Laura Murillo, president and chief executive officer of the chamber.

The courses, she said, help boost the chamber’s membership, now at 922 members who pay at least $150 to join.

“It’s a good promotional vehicle for us,” Murillo said. “Whether or not they become members, they see us as a resource. Our priority is to help these people, get them connected, help them network.”

Murillo said the classes have been so successful the chamber will began offering similar sessions in English at its office in October.

I just came across this article below. It may be two years old, but it’s still interesting and relevant as the Hispanic marketplace expands to a trillion dollar arena. It all comes down to speaking your customer’s language - Spanish is good for business. Read more.

Hispanics are outpacing others in navigating the newest horizons of the wireless world. They’re placing greater importance on taking pictures with their phones and sending text messages far and wide, according to market research companies. They are more likely to have unplugged their land lines altogether. And compared with the general market, they shell out 10% more money for their wireless bills, according to some estimates.

Without credit, and with a busy schedule and a home base that is constantly changing, she finds a land line impractical. Yet in a new place with no family, as part of a culture where family is central, having a phone is her lifeline.

On a recent morning waiting for a city bus, Carolin talked with her 8-year-old son, who lives in Guatemala. She smiles as she holds up an image of him — smiling back at her — set as her cellphone “wallpaper,” the display on her phone’s screen. “My phone is indispensable.”

Telecommunications companies have taken note, rushing to capture the market of 40 million Hispanics in the U.S., from new immigrants to affluent Latin Americans who have been in the U.S. for decades. The prepaid phone market has exploded, which draws those unable or unwilling to sign a contract.

Companies such as Cingular Wireless are offering competitive rates abroad, and targeting niche audiences with Spanish-language games and news or salsa ring tones.

“Communication is extremely important to this particular group of individuals, who are coming from all parts of the world,” says Alisa Joseph, vice president of advertiser marketing services of Scarborough Research, in New York. Her firm found that Hispanics pay an average of $67 a month for cellphone bills, compared with $60 for the general population.

In Houston, and throughout the U.S., a growing number of Latinos die in work-related accidents.  As the following article points out, the increase in the number of tragic incidents, both in Houston and nationally, once again underscores the importance of comprehensive safety trainings that are designed with the workers’ language skills in mind.  The consequences of ignoring employees’ varying language skills are indeed grave.  As quoted in the article, understanding workplace safety warnings in English can make the difference between life and death. 

Moreno’s horrific fate was one experienced by a growing number of Latinos in Harris County, and hundreds who died in workplaces across the nation. From July 2006 to July 2007 in Harris County, 16 of the 24 workers who died in workplace accidents were Latino. Eighteen Latinos were among the 31 workers who died in the county in the same time period the year before, according to Occupational Safety and Health Administration records.

According to a report issued last month, 937 Latino workers were killed nationwide in workplace accidents in 2006, the highest number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began keeping fatalities by ethnic and racial categories in 1992.

According to the August BLS report, while Hispanics make up roughly 12 percent of the work force, they accounted for 16 percent of on-the-job fatalities in 2006.

Latinos are disproportionately employed in the more dangerous industries, according to OSHA. For example, the construction industry accounts for about 7 percent of all employment, but 20 percent of fatalities.

Latinos comprise almost 15 percent of construction employment, well above their representation in the work force overall. OSHA’s data on Latino workers includes native- and foreign-born workers.

The following article from The Chicago Tribune reminds readers of the linguistic diversity that exists both globally and within the United States. This article serves as an important reminder of the cultures and languages that are truly indigenous to the region now known as the United States. According to the article, over 40 Native American languages are still spoken in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. New research shows that many such languages, spoken by aboriginal peoples of various regions throughout the world, are in danger of extinction.

Of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century. In fact, they are now falling out of use at a rate of about one every two weeks.

Some endangered languages vanish in an instant, at the death of the sole surviving speaker. Others are lost gradually in bilingual cultures, as indigenous tongues are overwhelmed by the dominant language at school, in the marketplace and on television.

New research, reported Tuesday, has identified the five regions of the world where languages are disappearing most rapidly. The “hot spots” of imminent language extinction are northern Australia, central South America, North America’s upper Pacific coastal zone, eastern Siberia and an area that includes Oklahoma and the southwestern United States. All of the areas are occupied by aboriginal people speaking diverse languages, but in decreasing numbers.