The news was alarming: Hispanic construction
workers represent over half (56%) of the state’s COVID-19 deaths although
Hispanics currently represent 40 percent of the state’s population. The story, reported today by The Dallas
Morning News,[1]
discussed the results of a research study published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association (JAMA) by a team of researchers at The University
of Texas at Austin. The study pointed to the increased risk faced by Hispanic
construction workers and living arrangements that preclude social distancing.
The story is also concerning for the issues
that were not addressed. For example, the story did not include any comments
from the one organization in North Texas that would have relevant insights to
contribute to our understanding of this elevated health threat to Hispanic
construction workers: The Regional
Hispanic Contractors Association.
Previous COVID-19 news reports have focused
considerable attention on essential workers in healthcare, the food industry and
other occupations. However, the risks faced by construction workers have
received relatively little attention, especially Hispanic workers who comprise
30 percent of all construction workers. Under the current administration, OSHA
(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has relaxed their inspections of
occupations to verify compliance with COVID-19 safety measures which has undoubtedly
contributed to the increased risk faced by Hispanic workers who often do not
wear face masks.
Of course, we have known for several months
that Hispanics and Blacks have been experiencing higher levels of COVID-19
illnesses and mortalities. As I discussed
in an earlier report,[2] these COVID-19 mortality rates are likely much
higher for Blacks and Hispanics since state and federal health data are often
missing information on the race or ethnicity of COVID-19 mortalities. There is
a simple procedure available that can estimate the race-ethnicity of a person
based on their name and zip code with 80 to 90 percent accuracy – a tool that could
be used to fill in the missing data and obtain a better estimate of COVID-19 mortalities.
Communication of these alarming health risks
to the right audiences is also problematic. For example, it is not likely that
the Hispanic construction workers and families that need to know about their
elevated risk of death related to COVID-19 will read the report in JAMA or The
Dallas Morning News. During the pandemic
period, audiences are more likely to obtain news information from television
and online sources if they have Internet access. And Hispanic construction workers
are more likely to use Spanish-language sources of information. Consequently, it is imperative that Spanish-language
television stations like Univision and Telemundo assume an increased
responsibility to ensure that COVID-19 health alerts are regularly communicated
to their audiences. Moreover,
organizations like the Regional Hispanic Construction Association are perhaps
the best vehicle to deliver and reinforce the health alerts to their
membership.
While the issue of increased COVID-19 exposure
and deaths of Hispanic construction workers is urgent, one wonders if the study
findings will be sufficient to wake up the various stakeholders to take
decisive action. As the story points out, Dallas-Fort Worth is second among the
country’s largest building markets in September this year with an estimated
155,000 workers in the building sector. But
as one of the study authors, professor Lauren Meyers pointed out, the study
findings do not necessarily mean that construction work needs to stop. “It
means that we need to go to great lengths to ensure the health and safety of
workers when they do go to work.”
In the meantime, let’s ensure that Hispanic
construction workers and their families are informed about the elevated risks
that they face from COVID-19 and, more importantly, that they are provided practical
solutions to mitigate the risks. Following are a few suggestions for achieving these objectives:
- Being the second highest building market in the nation, it seems reasonable to ask investors and builders to create a fund that is dedicated to keeping the Hispanic contractors and workforce safe and able to meet basic expenses.
- Create a fund to offset the costs of funeral expenses for the many Hispanic families who have lost a family member working in the construction industry.
- Pressure OSHA to conduct more frequent checks of construction work sites to ensure that workers are following COVID-19 safety guidelines and have a sufficient supply of PPE supplies.
- Provide funding for temporary shelter, such as trailers or hotel rooms, to provide family members the opportunity to quarantine themselves when necessary from exposed construction workers.
- Ensure that all construction workers are tested for the COVID-19 virus before starting their work shift.
- Provide continuing funding to organizations such as the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association so that they are able to conduct the needed training to Hispanic contractors regarding COVID-19 safety measures and risks.
- Lastly, ensure that all COVID-19 related communications are delivered in both English and Spanish languages. Native-born Hispanics primarily view English-language media while foreign-born Hispanics primarily view Spanish-language media – a fact that we have confirmed from our 45 years of evaluating the media habits of Hispanics throughout the U.S.
End
Notes
[1] Difurio,
D. (2020, October 31). Construction workers
hit hard by virus. Dallas Morning News. Accessed at https://edition.pagesuite.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=6e7208df-d7f4-44e9-af63-fef33cd734fb
[2] Rincón, E.T. (2020, April 16). Missing race-ethnicity data complicates
Covid-19 mortality counts, But the solution is simple. https://thecultureofresearch.blogspot.com/2020/04/missing-race-ethnicity-data-complicates.html
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