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Informal Partnership Across State
Lines:
10-Hour OSHA Construction Course in Spanish
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What do Arkansas and Texas have in common? Both states have produced U.S.
presidents. Both have a long history of excellent college football teams. Both
states have also benefited from informal partnerships between OSHA and local
companies to provide Spanish language training for employers and employees in
the construction industry.
It all began in 1997 in Fort Worth, Texas. Marilyn Clark Alston, then a
Compliance Safety and Health Officer (CSHO) with OSHA's Forth Worth Area
Office, and Jesse Cole, Safety Director for Austin Commercial, LP, a
construction contractor, were teaching an OSHA 10-hour construction course
together in English. Both recognized the need for a similar course in Spanish.
Mr. Cole offered to allow Joe Rodriguez, Safety Manager/Trainer for Austin
Commercial to teach the 10-hour construction course in Spanish. This led to the
very first OSHA 10-hour construction course in Spanish!
The 10-hour course is designed to provide training on construction safety and
health to entry level workers. The classes emphasize hazard identification,
avoidance, control, and prevention. Required topics include an introduction to
OSHA, electrical standards, and fall protection. Other topics may include
trenching and excavation, scaffolding, tools, and personal protective
equipment. Handouts and training materials are provided to the trainees during
the class. Upon the completion of the class, the trainees receive a course
completion card.
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OSHA's Outreach
Training Program |
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The 10-hour course described in this story is
made possible by OSHA's
Outreach Training
Program, a voluntary train-the-trainer program
through which OSHA authorizes trainers to teach
construction and general industry safety and
health standards and policy. To become an
authorized construction outreach trainer,
individuals must complete an OSHA course (Course
No. 500, Trainer Course in Occupational Safety
and Health Standards for the Construction
Industry) and pass a test at the end of the
course. To maintain their status, construction
outreach trainers must attend an update course
every four years. These courses are offered by
the
OSHA Training Institute in Arlington
Heights, Illinois and the OSHA Training
Institute
Education Centers around the country.
Authorized construction outreach trainers can
teach the 10-hour or 30-hour construction
courses. | | | |
Since that day in 1997, the OSHA 10-hour construction
course has been held in both English and Spanish in the Ft. Worth and Dallas
areas. As of November 2003, almost 1,300 individuals have been trained since
the first classes were taught.
OSHA's cooperative efforts with Austin Commercial didn't stop in Texas. The
company agreed to allow Joe Rodriguez to travel to Little Rock, Arkansas to
help Ms. Alston, now OSHA's Compliance Assistance Specialist in Little Rock,
with the training there. A 10-hour construction course in Spanish was held in
November 2003 in Springdale, Arkansas, an event which may be offered annually
in Arkansas.
In addition to working with OSHA on the 10-hour construction courses, Austin
Commercial has established formal cooperative relationships with OSHA. The
company is a member of the OSHA Strategic Partnership with Associated General
Contractors (AGC), and also received STAR status under OSHA's Voluntary
Partnership Program (VPP) for the company's Southwestern Medical Center
construction project in Dallas, Texas.
OSHA also has worked informally with TETRA Technologies, an oil and gas
services company headquartered in Woodland, Texas, to train Spanish-speaking
construction workers. At the 2001 World Safety Organization conference in Waco,
Texas, Ms. Alston met Roosevelt Smith, Corporate Safety Director and Tommy
Stafford, Safety Manager for TETRA. After learning of the success of the
10-hour course in Texas, Mr. Smith agreed to allow Mr. Stafford to assist with
teaching the course in Little Rock. Mr. Smith is President of the National
Safety Management Society (NSMS), which signed an Alliance with OSHA in October
2003 to protect worker health and safety with a focus on integrated safety
management systems and workplace safety and health programs.
These informal partnerships are examples of how worker safety can benefit when
OSHA works with companies like Austin Commercial and TETRA, who are truly
committed to safety and health in the workplace.
For additional information, please contact Marilyn Clark Alston, Compliance
Assistance Specialist in OSHA's Area Office in Little Rock, Arkansas, at
Marilyn Clark.
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