09-519-NEW/BOS 2009-143
Wed., May 20, 2009
Contact: Ted Fitzgerald
Phone: 617-565-2074

U.S. Labor Department's OSHA renews safety and health alliance with Mexican Consulate for workers in New York and New Jersey

NEW YORK -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Consulate General of Mexico in New York City have renewed an alliance to provide safety and health information and training to Mexican workers and employers in New York and New Jersey.

This alliance will include construction safety training and education programs for non-English and limited English-speaking employees and employers that will focus on reducing workers' exposure to fall, electrical, amputation and other construction hazards.

"No worker should die or be injured on the job," said Robert Kulick, OSHA's regional administrator in New York. "OSHA and the Consulate will work with faith-based and community organizations to enhance workplace safety and health awareness in the region's Mexican community in order to help ensure that each worker goes home whole and healthy at the end of each workday."

"Knowledge is the most important tool a worker can carry to a job," said OSHA Regional Hispanic Coordinator Diana Cortez. "This alliance will provide these workers with important information to help them identify and eliminate work-related hazards, and thus reduce and prevent potentially disabling or fatal injuries."

The alliance continues and builds on earlier outreach activities by OSHA and the Consulate, including construction safety courses, safety and health fairs, and distribution of OSHA materials and safety and health information at the consulate and through its Consulate on Wheels program. OSHA and the Consulate will encourage bilingual individuals to take OSHA's train-the-trainer courses to teach 10- and 30-hour courses in Spanish. The alliance also will urge the Consulate's constituency to develop relationships with OSHA offices regarding safety and health issues, and to participate in the agency's cooperative programs.

The alliance was signed at the Mexican Consulate in New York City by OSHA's Kulick and Cortez; Ambassador Ruben Beltran, Consul General of Mexico; and Mario Cuevas, Consul in Charge - Protection of Mexican citizens. Additional information about this alliance and OSHA's Hispanic outreach activities in the New York region can be obtained by calling OSHA's Tarrytown area office at 914-524-7510.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their workers. OSHA's role is to promote the safety and health of America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual process improvement in workplace safety and health. OSHA encourages effective safety and health management systems as a means by which employers and employees can work together to identify and eliminate work-related hazards. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

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