Construction Accidents: Worker's Death Raises Cocerns Over Immigrant Hispanic Worker Safety

Francisco Antonio Alaman-Renderoz, 45, who originally came from El Salvador, fell 25 to 35 feet while putting in a fireplace wall during the construction of a cabin in Brighton, Utah. Alaman-Renderoz was not wearing any safety equipment at the time of his fall; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that a harness or a railing must be used if a construction worker is more than 6 feet off the ground.

Worker's Death Raises Concern Over Safety of Hispanic Immigrant Workers

Hispanic construction workers are more frequently injured on the job than other races in Utah. The U.S. Labor Department says that there were 6,300 injuries and 1,180 deaths during construction and extraction jobs in the United States in 2005. Greg Summerhays, from the Workers Compensation Fund, says, "Hispanics are getting injured more than anyone else, partly because they work in one of the most dangerous jobs." From 1992 to 2002, there was an 11 percent in fatal work accidents in the entire construction worker population. However, in the same time frame, there was a 46 percent increase in death among foreign workers.