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COPYRIGHT 2006 A Thomson Healthcare Company
New worker, new job, no English? Occupational language bridges gap
Survival Spanish helpful for non-Hispanic OHNs
Every year, thousands of new immigrants to the United States start jobs that promise hope for a new life but may bear safety and health risks if no one at their new jobs can communicate in their native language. It's not difficult to imagine the problems that can arise if an employee who speaks only Spanish is injured or sustains an exposure at work because he has not received safety instructions in his native language, or is unable to tell anyone where he is hurt.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, 49% of the foreign-born labor force in the United States in 2005 was Hispanic. Increases in the number of non-English-speaking Hispanic people working in the United States has created a demand for language instruction that bridges the gap between not knowing a language at all and being fully fluent.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 7 million Spanish-speaking adults in the United States have little or no command of English. The idea behind "survival Spanish" or "occupational Spanish" is to teach supervisors, coworkers, and any other personnel who interact with the workers enough Spanish that they can communicate and understand just enough to make routine tasks and communication easier.
Another benefit, says Cheryl Little, RN, BSN, director of health education for Iowa Valley Community College District, is that if the worker is injured...
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