Immigrant Construction Workers and Health and Safety

Immigrants are a growing percentage of the U.S. construction labor force, so the safety of their working conditions deserves study. This article reports on research surveying 283 immigrant construction workers in south Florida about their safety training, use of personal protective equipment, and employer safety practices. Potential impacts of unionized status and documented legal status are tested through regression analysis. Results show only a minor positive relationship of unionization with more training and safer conditions and essentially no relationship between documented legal status and training or safe conditions. Reasons for the weak results are discussed, and further research questions are posed.