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Builders Address CDC's Hispanic Worker Safety Issues
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OSHA Assistant Secretary Edwin Foulke, left, NAHB President Sandy Dunn and Andy Anderson, 2007 chairman of the NAHB Construction Safety & Health Committee. |
Sed de Saber — Construction Edition, a special training tool developed by the Home Builders Institute (HBI) with Retention Education, Inc. and sponsored by Lowe’s Corp., can considerably improve work site safety among Hispanic workers and addresses many of the concerns highlighted in a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study.
The CDC’s findings, released in its June 6 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, indicate that Hispanic workers experience higher fatality rates than others on the job site, with construction sites representing a particular area of concern. Miscommunication because of language differences was cited as a key factor that needs to be addressed.
A similar study by NAHB, "Residential Construction Fatalities 2003-2006," used the same data source as this CDC study and found that 28% of the fatalities in residential construction occurred to workers of Hispanic origin, almost exactly the same finding as the CDC study.
Introduced in mid-2007 and increasingly being implemented on construction job sites nationwide to improve safety among non-English speakers, Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition teaches Spanish speakers English-language conversational skills and critical job site safety tips. Lowe’s Commercial Services serves as the home improvement sponsor of the program.
“NAHB and its workforce development arm, the Home Builders Institute, have long championed job site safety through our ongoing efforts and partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA),” said 2008 NAHB President Sandy Dunn.
“Evidence strongly suggests that communication is a major factor in improving safety, and with the growing number of Hispanic employees in our industry, it’s extremely important that everyone on the job site understands one another,” said Dunn. “Sed de Saber-Construction Edition is the most efficient tool on the market for teaching construction-related English to Spanish speaking workers.”
Custom-built by HBI and Retention Education, Inc., Sed de Saber-Construction Edition utilizes innovative Leapfrog™ technology to help Spanish-speakers learn at their own pace and on their own time. The system teaches 500 words and 340 phrases, providing a functional level of English-language conversation and comprehension in about five months. With job site safety as a primary goal, the program relies on job site safety details from a jointly-developed NAHB/OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook.
“The recent CDC study is alarming, but this is an issue we’ve been aware of at HBI for some time,” said HBI Chairman John Moffitt. “Builders should be taking every precaution to ensure that the job site is safe. Sed de Saber-Construction edition is an advance in technology that can save lives and money.”
Pulte Homes hosted the program in Phoenix late last year, and the employees who participated increased their English language proficiency by an average of 51%. For more information, e-mail Maria McIntyre at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8912.
 Home Builders Institute Offers New Program to Teach English to Spanish Speakers
Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition is an easy-to-use, take-home learning tool created by Home Builders Institute (HBI) to improve job site communication, construction quality and safety by teaching English to Spanish-speaking workers, who make up 25% of today’s construction industry workforce.
 Sponsored by Lowe’s Commercial Services, Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition was developed by a team of subject matter experts — including superintendents, craft skills experts, remodelers and builders — to ensure that its contents was relevant to today’s home building workforce. HBI also created a seventh book based entirely on the NAHB-OSHA Job Site Safety Handbook to address job site safety issues related to the language barrier.
 Sed de Saber™-Construction Edition uses proven LeapFrog technology to allow learners to listen, record and play back their pronunciation of more than 500 vocabulary words and 340 phrases. Participants who practice 30 minutes each day will complete the program in about five months. Learning at home, on their own time, also eliminates scheduling conflicts.
NAHB members can purchase the learning system, all seven books and a skills assessment to chart progress for $395 per kit. The non-member price is $495. Order today at www.seddesaberconstruction.com or at www.lowesforpros.com.
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