Articles
Safety for All!
Protecting the safety of construction and general industry workers is of the highest importance to everyone – workers, business owners, and managers. Are you or your association members at risk?
Challenges:
- Workers cannot protect themselves from harm if they haven’t been taught and shown the best practices for reducing their personal risk.
- A company cannot protect itself from the high costs of worker injury or litigation if it does not provide authorized safety training to its workers…ALL of them.
- Many states (NY, NH, CT, MA, RI and others) and cities have required all workers on state or municipal construction projects to have OSHA 10 Hour cards to document their training.
- A significant percentage of construction and industrial workers speak Spanish and are of limited English ability to absorb safety training in English
Solution! Language Directions brings authorized OSHA 10 hour training to your plant, school, or building. It is taught in English OR Spanish, in accordance with your schedule, to comply with all federal requirements. The 10-hour course provides basic awareness training on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. The availability of the in-person training by authorized bilingual instructors assures that every worker is protected……and that employer risk is significantly reduced. A 30-hour course, also available, provides a greater depth and variety of training on an expanded list of topics associated with workplace hazards in specific industries.
Affordable! Contact us to talk. Protect current and future construction/industrial employees and give them a competitive employment edge. For business owners, reduce your risk resulting from safety violations and accidents in the workplace.
Safety Through Understanding
“PUSH” and “PULL” are both four letter English words and begin with the same two letters. If a worker does not read English, he or she has only 50% chance of making the correct choice. Making the wrong one can cause an error or even a serious injury with the result of costly down time, increased insurance costs, and possibly even litigation. Most languages, including Spanish, have two completely separate words for PUSH and PULL and they don’t look or sound anywhere near the same. Lead to confusion for the immigrant worker? You bet! Everyone knows that safety training is required, but how many are aware of the consequences of providing essential protection and safety training exclusively in English?In 2006, fatal work injuries involving Latino workers reached the highest level ever recorded for Latino workers. According to government sources, the fatality rate for civilian foreign-born Hispanic workers in 2006 was 6.0, or 50 percent higher than the rate of all workers. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA at the time noted that “far too many Latino workers have needlessly lost their lives just trying to earn a living and it must stop.”
To be sure, most companies are careful to provide essential safety training for their workers; Personal Protective Equipment, Fork Lift Safety, Hazardous Materials, First Aid/CPR etc. Typically, OSHA materials are provided in Spanish with class instruction in English or through interpretation. When instruction is not in a language the workers speak, and there is no way to ask questions to clarify content, there is no way to determine how much essential training is understood. This can lead to accidents and errors on the job! Most, however, provide this training in English. Is there any way of truly knowing that everyone really understood and can successfully implement the safety training they ‘’learned?”
On April 29, 2010, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis issued an enforcement memorandum that
directs Department of Labor compliance officers to check and verify that workers are receiving OSHA-required training in a language they understand to conform with the government goal of reducing injuries and illnesses among Latino and other vulnerable workers.
Unfortunately, like many directives, the means for enforcing the directives are often not adequately in place. To save dollars, many employers continue to offer English-only training in the hope that there will be no accidents resulting from misunderstanding. When bilingual training is available, one must measure the additional cost of providing it against the estimated costs of a violation or accident. Many workers can “get along” in English but are unable to grasp sophisticated or technical instruction in their second language. Companies can minimize their risk by assuring that their Spanish speaking workers completely understand essential OSHA and other safety concepts and techniques by providing training in Spanish.
Fixing the “Communication Equation”
Clear speech = understanding“I didn’t understand a word he said.”
“I had to replay her voicemail message four times to get her extension, department and name in
order to return the call.”
“He’s brilliant and would be a great hire, but my team won’t be able to communicate with him.”
“I don’t know why I can’t understand people at work. I’ve been learning English since I was 5
years old!”
“I hate having to repeat everything I say. Why can’t they understand me?”
Do any of these concerns resonate with you? Do you get impatient when you speak with an accented person? Is your accent holding you back? It’s frustrating for both sides of the communication equation – speaker and listener – when understanding breaks down. Stereotypes and pre-judgments can be formed when what comes out of your mouth does not reflect the sophistication and knowledge that is in the brain of the speaker. In order for a transmission of information to be successful, the listener must clearly receive, decode, and understand what the speaker is saying. When either or both sides of the equation break down, productive communication suffers immensely, often to the embarrassment of highly successful people.
What makes these things happen? A wide variety of possibilities. Many people do not learn English from someone whose first language is English. They may have learned “accented” English, unaware that there is a difference between how they learned to pronounce words and how they are pronounced correctly. Something as simple as stressing the wrong part of a word or not pronouncing the ends of words can create large pockets of miscommunication between speaker and listener. Additionally, native speakers of American English tend to use many idioms and expressions that refer to American history, sports, or other subjects that are not in the active knowledge of a foreign-born person. For example, “He made a home run with his presentation,” might not be necessarily understood. The equation is unbalanced in favor of the speaker to the disadvantage of the listener. See that polite smile? It’s an indication that the listener is being polite, doesn’t want to indicate non-understanding, and is frantically trying to figure out what you mean. Sound familiar?
The fact is that English is a complicated and difficult language to learn. There are few rules and many exceptions, and pronunciations that make no logical sense when words that look alike can mean different things when pronounced in different ways. Examples: “He refused the refuse” or “It’s time to produce the produce.” There is an entire list of sentences like this that a native US speaker will say easily and without hesitation, but can totally confound a foreign-born English speaker.
A person who has studied English as a Second Language (ESL) for many years and has mastered all official levels of ESL often remains at a lower level of fluency and comfort than a native speaker, thus creating a “gap” of perception and clarity of communication. It is this “gap” that Language Directions can reduce or eliminate with our customized course MAPS (More Americanized Pronunciation and Speaking). The person described above does NOT need another ESL course; he or she can speak, read and write English.
What that person needs is “pronunciation polishing,” help with any remaining grammar issues, assistance with voice quality, and all the other factors which affect his comfort and clarity when speaking American English. Many companies are committing to aggressive diversity hiring initiatives, only to leave many foreign-born employees unsupported with their communication skills. The good news is that communication skills of all types are trainable. A MAPS program for a group or an individual can be transformative to the consistent and overall success of the Communication Equation in the workplace.
Smart Hacks for Successful Travel
Summer is a time of travel and travel is a time of interaction with cultures, custom, and languages different from those we know. A small amount of preparation for these travels, paired with a large degree of awareness of best practices while travelling (foreign OR within the US) can reap big rewards and make you a wise and welcome tourist. Picture yourself as a ‘’native’’ of your region. What makes you most likely to want to help someone who needs directions or assistance? If someone were to approach you on the streets of Morristown , speak to you in Russian, and expect you to understand and respond, criticize your city or country, how would you feel? Anxious to help him or her? I don’t think so… and yet, many travelling Americans expect everyone to speak to them in English and do everything the same way “we” do it. Granted, English is an international language and is widely spoken, but attitude is everything. Have a good one. Here are a few things that you can do before and during your trip that will build rapport and make your travel easier and more pleasant.
Before you leave:
- Take some time to learn some ‘’survival’’ words in the language of the country you are visiting. There are so many apps with sound that make it easy. Good Morning, Hello, Please, Thank You, Excuse Me, I’m sorry, or asking for Help, paired with a big smile, can work wonders.
- Learn the “Question Words” of Why, Where, Who, When, How Much, How. With matching body language, you’ll be able to communicate on a basic level.
- Do some basic cultural research. The web is chock full of customs and other cultural information. Learn a little about where you are going. Focus on American behaviors and gestures that might not be welcome where you are travelling. You can also find this basic information in Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands (Morrison), an exhaustive book about interactions in 60 countries. Being clued in on what is important to the residents of the country or area you are visiting will help you avoid accidentally offending someone or embarrassing yourself.
When you are there:
- Remember to smile, lean in to show friendliness, and don’t be afraid to use the words and phrases you’ve learned. Don’t worry about how well you say them. Your effort will be appreciated and welcomed. Use your foreign words frequently, especially Please and Thank You.
- Play “Charades.” Use your body and your voice tonality to communicate non- verbally. You’d be surprised how far this goes toward understanding, paired with the combination of limited English ability on one side of the exchange and limited native language ability on the other. Work towards common understanding with a smile and ‘’open’’ face.
- Be cautious in your interactions. Avoid politics and religion and never criticize or mock the customs or religious beliefs of the country you are visiting….even if the local person does! Just because they may speak negatively of their government or religion does NOT mean that you can agree or add your comments. Be wary on touchy subjects! Offending locals can be uncomfortable at the least and dangerous at the most.
- Be appreciative of all that is offered to you and avoid making negative comparisons to what you have or eat ‘’at home.’’ Enjoy what is unique to that country or region and do not appear to question its quality.
These hacks, developed throughout a lifetime of foreign travel and extensive conversation with foreign expats here in New Jersey, will help you to be the enlightened, savvy, and welcome visitor, both in other regions of the US and abroad. Happy travelling!!