Rutgers University OTEC / New Labor Latino Occupational Safety and Health Initiative

The Rutgers University OTEC / New Labor Latino Occupational Safety and Health Initiative (LOSHI) provide quality, cost effective Spanish language occupational safety and health training to Latino Workers and their employers (for a history of LOSHI scroll down). LOSHI currently has two major programs:

The Emergency Response Preparedness Program
Through a Susan Harwood Training grant from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2004 LOSHI began by partnering with temporary employment agencies and client firms to develop site-specific ERP training programs.

Pacon and Kelly Services were the initial partners on this project. The Pacon/Kelly Services site specific Emergency Response Preparedness Workbook was developed through a labor/management advisory committee represented by Pacon and Kelly Services employees. The committee's ovservations and insights were invaluable in creating a workbook that provides Pacon and Kelly Services employees with enough information to increase their overall health and safety awareness and to know what they should do in the event of an emergency on the job.
New Labor Peer-to-Peer trainers facilitated the advisory committee meetings and the classes.

Also, the project is now working with Michael Foods. Like Pacon, they created a site-specific health and safety manual through a labor/management advisory committee represented by Michael Foods employees. The committee's ovservations and insights helped create a workbook that provides Michael Foods employees with enough information to increase their overall health and safety awareness and to know what they should do in the event of an emergency on the job. New Labor Peer-to-Peer trainers facilitated the advisory committee meetings and the classes.

Now, Michael Foods has some employees that are trained through the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) program that faciliate the health and safety activities for their co-workers.

In September 2005, New Labor was awarded a grant from the New Jersey Department of Labor (DOL) to provide bilingual occupational safety and health training to hard to reach workers, employers, unions and community based organizations. DOL funding will allow LOSHI to continue the ERP program for 2006.

New Labor offers the classes at their offices in New Brunswick. The classes are facilitated in Spanish and are open to the public. New Labor provides training for community and faith based organizations that would like to host a workshop in their community.

For more information, call (732) 246-2900.

Also please visit the New Labor Health and Safety minisite - (click here)


Latino Construction Worker Health and Safety Project
New Labor in collaboration with Rutgers OTEC and the Laborers' International Union are working together to develop an innovative Spanish language health and safety education and training program for day laborers.

The three year project includes three major components:
- Documenting the needs of Latino day laborers through surveys and focus groups.

- Delivery of an industry recognized health and safety training program to day laborers using a peer-to-peer paticipatory method.

- Dissemination of the training curriculum, evaluation data and description of the intervention process.

"Day Labor is characterized by men (and, in a few cases, women) who congregate in open-air curbside or visible markets such as empty lots, street corners, parking lots, designated public spaces, or store fronts of home improvement establishments to solicit temporary daily work."
- Abel Valenzuela, Day Labor Work,
2003

How can your organization participate or help?
During the first year of the project, New Labor members will be conducting interviews with day laborers throughout the state and conducting focus groups in selected areas. Your organization can help by:

- informing New Labor of where day laborers are congregating in your area.

- referring organizations that are working with day laborers in your area to New Labor

- helping with outreach for conducting surveys

- hosting a focus group at your organization's office, a church or other space

Funding for this project is provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health through the Center to Protect Workers' Rights.

Contact Rich Cunningham or Lou Kimmel at (732) 246-2900 for more information.


History of LOSHI
In 2002, the Rutgers Occupational Training and Education Consortium (OTEC) and New Labor began a strategic relationship to address the growing number of occupational injuries and fatalities among the Latino workforce. In January 2003, the two organizations created the Latino Occupational Safety and Health Initiative (LOSHI) to provide quality, cost effective Spanish language occupational safety and health training to Latino Workers and their employers.

In the spring of 2003, LOSHI organized two curriculum development meetings with 25 members of New Labor. The twenty-five participants—who were primarily young, Latino contingent workers employed by temp agencies, contractors, restaurants and light industrial manufacturing employers—identified occupational safety and health topics relevant to their work experiences. Based on the information gathered, Rutgers OTEC and New Labor developed a Spanish language health and safety general awareness workbook that consists of 14 Activities covering such topics as: Assessing Hazards at Work, Personal Protective Equipment, Emergency Response, Material Safety Data Sheets, Chemical Awareness, Indoor Air Quality, Lifting Safety and Health and Safety Committees.

In addition to the general awareness workbook, OTEC and New Labor have developed a Spanish language Chemical Hazard Communication and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Workbook. The workbook consists of nineteen activities including: Systems of Safety; Emergency Response Roles; Confined Space; Lockout/Tagout; NFPA Hazard Rating System; DOT Hazardous Material Information System; and, NIOSH Pocket Guide.

In June 2003, the curriculum committee meeting participants were invited to attend the first Rutgers OTEC/New Labor Spanish Language Train-the-Trainer. Twenty-four of the participants attended a four-day course where they learned how to facilitate health and safety workshops using the Small Group Activity Method. In June 2004, the second Rutgers OTEC/New Labor Train-the-Trainer was held. Twenty five members were trained this time.