Teaching Construction Safety Washington DC

Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations make it crystal-clear that employers have a regulatory obligation to ensure that every employee has been given the necessary information and training to perform their job duties safely. If you think you're going to beat OSHA on this issue, forget it.

Where I disagree with this premise is in the idea that employers should create special conditions in order to follow these rules.

I believe that the culture of the company sets the tone for how its employees should behave and communicate on the job. We treat all employees the same regardless of their language. But everyone should be able to communicate in English on our jobsites. When necessary, we help make this happen through English-as-a-second-language classes and some “cross-training,” using Spanish-speaking employees to teach a few Spanish phrases to the others.

Our culture extends to subcontractors as well. We make it clear that if subs send non-English-speaking employees to our jobsites, they must have someone with them who can explain the job and the rules. In situations where a non-English-speaking subcontractor is doing something unsafe or isn't following directions, Mark IV employees know to stop that work and get his English-speaking supervisor or reschedule the work.

Ensuring safe communications should not be the sole responsibility of employers. It should be mutual. We find that the employees who want to get educate

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