'We can benefit the team'

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‘A common destiny’

Michael Flynn, coordinator of the Occupational Health Equity program at NIOSH, encourages employers “to develop their bilingual capacity within their own workforce,” promoting it “as a win-win, or as the need of adapting to the changing world.”

Flynn said employers offering basic language classes to workers often have focused on workers who don’t speak English.

“But anecdotally, it’s been reported that sometimes that can create some resentment with the U.S.-born workers,” who may view the classes as special treatment. he said.

He said some of those employers who have Spanish-speaking workers found a better way: offering English classes for the Spanish-speaking workers, but also offering Spanish classes for English-speaking workers. “And so that way, regardless of what your first language is, you have the ability to learn a second language, or at least become proficient or functional in that language for the worksite.”

“The more successful ones I’ve seen is where they paint it as a way of getting ahead,” Flynn added. “They say to the employee, ‘Hey, if you get this training, one, you’ll be providing us with a valuable service of being able to facilitate communication.’ Some companies actually pay workers more for passing a certain level of the class. ‘And two, it will open career future pathways. You’ll be able to get ahead within the company.’ It’s basically just saying, ‘Look, we have a common destiny. We know we’re heading to a more bilingual workforce. This is a way of you getting ahead of the curve.’”

Galvan said employers should encourage all bilingual/multilingual workers to pursue safety certifications. “We need more safety and health professionals that are bilingual and bicultural.”

Cory Worden, safety advisor for the City of Houston Health Department, views the issue holistically. “If we look at the language factor in terms of the entire safety management system – from the representation on the committee, the hazard analysis, the hazard controls, the communication, the leading indicators and lagging indicators to the analysis – then, ideally, we cannot only catch any potential shortfalls as early as possible, but we can also use the different language and, subsequently, the cultural perspective to our advantage. We can benefit the team by having those different perspectives, those different viewpoints and those cultural factors.”