14  Monthly Labor Review • February 2013

Fatal Injuries to Hispanic/Latino Workers

Hispanic/Latino fatal

occupational injury rates

The overall fatal occupational injury rate is higher

for Hispanic/Latino workers than for all workers;

foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers have higher rates

than native-born Hispanic/Latino workers in certain

occupations, a statistic that is explainable

by differentials in employment between the two groups

Christen G. Byler

Christen G. Byler is an economist 

in the Division of Census of Fatal

Occupational Injuries, Office

of Compensation and Working

Conditions, Bureau of Labor

Statistics. Email: byler.christen@

bls.gov.

The topic of job safety among Hispanic/Latino workers continues to command the attention of a growing number of people in the occupational 

safety community. Various events, including 

the coordination of efforts among various 

agencies and organizations at the first National Action Summit for Latino Worker 

Health and Safety, held in April 2010, signal the increasing prominence of this issue.1

One statistic frequently noted by professionals in the field is the national fatal injury 

rate for Hispanic/Latino workers in comparison to that of all workers. Citing BLS data, 

Dr. John Howard, director of the National 

Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 

spoke at the National Action Summit:

For much of the past two decades...

the rate of work-related fatalities for 

Latinos has exceeded the rate for all 

U.S. workers, at times dramatically 

so. During the period 2003–2006, 

for instance, the fatality rate for Latino workers exceeded the rate for all 

workers by nearly 35 percent.2

This article examines the national Hispanic/Latino fatal injury rate, with a focus 

on fatal injury rates by major occupation 

group and nativity. Findings indicate that 

rates are higher for foreign-born workers, but 

only in certain occupations. In addition, differentials in employment may explain some of 

the disparities in fatal injury rates between the 

two groups discussed. Rates are constructed 

with the use of data from the Census of Fatal 

Occupational Injuries (CFOI)

3

 and the Current 

Population Survey (CPS)

4

 on workers born inside and outside of the United States by each 

major occupation. Occupational rates for all 

workers will be used as a baseline for comparison to provide a context for understanding the 

rates of fatal injury among subpopulations of 

Hispanic/Latino workers.

Foreign- and native-born Hispanics/Latinos 

Despite a common ethnicity shared by foreignand native-born Hispanic/Latino workers, it is 

helpful to view them as two distinct groups in 

assessing occupational safety. As suggested by 

the Pew Research Hispanic Center,5 workers 

born outside of the United States, particularly 

those who migrated later in life, share an experience different from that of native-born workers. Chart 1 shows Hispanic/Latino workers by 

nativity as a proportion of the U.S. workforce.6

In 2008, the CPS reported that, of more than 

145 million employed civilians in the United 

States, 14 percent, or roughly 20 million, were 

of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity. About 11 million, 
Monthly Labor Review • February 2013  15

or 54 percent, of Hispanic/Latino workers were born outside of the United States. That year, Hispanic/Latino workers accounted for 49 percent of all foreign-born workers in 

the nation. Overall, foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers 

incurred 66 percent of all fatal injuries to Hispanic/Latino 

workers, but made up a lesser 54 percent of employment. 

Native-born Hispanic/Latino workers constituted 6 percent 

(about 9 million) of all employed persons (see chart 1), and 

suffered the same percentage of fatal work injuries among 

all employed persons, from 2006 to 2008. During that same 

time span, native-born Hispanic/Latino workers incurred 

34 percent of fatal work injuries among all Hispanic/Latino 

workers (see chart 2), slightly more than half the number 

incurred by foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers.

Foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers come from diverse countries in Latin America and Europe. The largest 

share, according to the American Community Survey, is 

from Mexico.7 The greatest portion (46 percent) of fatal work 

injuries incurred by Hispanic/Latino workers from 2006 to 

2008 involved Mexican-born workers, as depicted in chart 2.

Agencies and organizations from diverse backgrounds, 

such as the Pew Research Hispanic Center, Department 

of Labor, National Council of La Raza, and American 

Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), frequently assert that foreign-born 

Hispanic/Latino workers are more likely than other 

workers born in the United States to encounter barriers to 

occupational safety, including limited English proficiency 

and limited or no knowledge of worker safety laws and 

rights.8 Among other obstacles that have been cited are 

the absence of a cultural precedent for safety, as well as the 

fear of employer retaliation against workers who speak up 

about safety hazards in the workplace.9

Though certainly not a homogenous demographic, native-born Hispanics/Latinos are fairly well aligned culturally with other U.S. citizens, with whom they share similar 

educational opportunities, a good understanding of U.S. 

law, and a rich exposure to the English language. For example, a 2008 study by the Pew Research Hispanic Center 

found that 48.2 percent of all native-born Hispanics/Latinos over the age of 18 in the United States spoke English very well while 13.9 percent spoke English less than 

very well.10 In contrast, the same study found that 43 percent of Hispanic/Latino populations of Mexican nativity, 

41 percent of Central American nativity, and 21 percent 

of South American nativity spoke English less than very 

well. Furthermore, 88 percent of native-born Hispanics/

Latinos had completed high school, compared with 67 

percent of foreign-born Hispanics/Latinos.11 Native-born 

Hispanic/Latino workers also appear to have better access 

 Chart 1. U.S. employment, by nativity and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, 2008

SOURCE:  American Community Survey.

Non-Hispanic/Latino foreign-born workers

Foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers

Native-born Hispanic/Latino workers

Non-Hispanic / Latino native-born workers

Total employment = 145,362,000

All Hispanic/Latino

workers, 14

78

6

8

8

Percent
Fatal Injuries to Hispanic/Latino Workers

16  Monthly Labor Review • February 2013

to health care, with 80 percent of the group being insured 

in 2008, in contrast to 50 percent of foreign-born workers who had health insurance that year.12 For all of these 

reasons, native-born Hispanic/Latino workers may have a 

reasonably good understanding of worker safety, enabling 

them to incur fewer workplace injuries than their foreignborn counterparts. 

Methodology 

This article employs the imputation methods used to calculate the official hours-based CFOI rates at the state level. 

Data were obtained from both the CFOI and the CPS. The 

CFOI is a federal-state cooperative program that has been 

implemented in all 50 states and the District of Columbia 

since 1992. To compile counts that are as complete as possible, the census uses multiple sources to identify, verify, and 

profile fatal worker injuries. Data compiled by the program 

are issued annually for the preceding calendar year.

Hours-based fatal injury rates measure occupational 

risk by standardizing fatal injuries in terms of length of 

exposure. These rates are generally considered to be more 

accurate than employment-based rates, which assess the 

number of fatal injuries per number of employed persons, 

regardless of the amount of time spent on the job. Hoursbased rates represent the number of fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers (FTEs) in 

a given worker population13 and are calculated as 

N/EH x 200,000,000, (1)

where

 N = number of fatal work injuries in a given

population,

 EH = total hours worked by all employees in a 

 given population during the calendar year, 

 and

200,000,000 = base for 100,000 FTEs

in a population (working 40 hours per

week, 50 weeks per year).

EH is calculated from two CPS estimates: average hours 

and time at work. Unfortunately, data on average hours 

worked by Hispanic/Latino workers are not available at 

certain levels of detail, such as by state, by nativity, or by 

occupation. For this reason, the CFOI program developed 

a method for imputing EH in order to produce fatal injury 

rates by state. The method uses employment data (E) that 

are available by state and combines those data with national estimates of average hours (hours worked, or HW) 

by industry. The CPS also produces employment data (E) 

<1

Europe

Caribbean

South America

Central America, excluding Mexico

Mexico

United States

 Chart 2. Fatal occupational injuries involving Hispanic/Latino workers, by region or country of nativity, 

2006–2008

4 4

11

34

46

Percent

SOURCE: Census of Fatal Occupational Injurie
Monthly Labor Review • February 2013  17

Occupation

Foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers Native-born Hispanic/Latino workers

2006 2007 2008 2006–2008 2006 2007 2008 2006–2008

Total 6.4 5.9 4.8 5.7 3.9 3.5 3.4 3.6

Management 2.7 1.9 1.5 2.0 1.8 .8 1.3 

Sales and related 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.3 1.5 .8 1.4 

 Protective service 11.6 24.8 9.0 15.1 6.8 11.2 7.7 8.6

Food preparation and serving 1.1 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.1 

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 6.2 4.7 5.0 5.3 4.9 6.8 6.3 

Office and administrative support 1.0 1.2 1.0 1.1 .5 .7 .3

Farming, forestry, and fishing 20.7 16.3 17.1 18.0 24.0 24.8 49.1 3

Construction and extraction 12.5 12.2 9.6 11.4 15.8 12.2 14.2 1

Installation, maintenance, and repairs 9.7 7.6 5.7 7.7 6.1 7.2 6.2 

Production 3.2 2.7 2.4 2.8 3.2 3.4 2.9 

Transportation and material moving 11.1 11.2 8.4 10.2 13.4 12.3 10.7 1

 1 The fatal injury rate is the number of fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent employees.

SOURCES: Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Current Population Surve

on Hispanic/Latino workers by nativity and occupation. 

Consequently, the method for calculating state rates by 

industry can be adapted to produce fatal injury rates for 

Hispanic/Latino workers by occupation. The formula

EHL = EL x HWN ,

where

 EL= Hispanic/Latino employment and

HWN = average annual number of hours worked

 by each employee in a given worker

 population for the entire United 

 States,

shows how average hours (HWN) for the entire United 

States and “at work” (employment, or EL) information on 

Hispanic/Latino workers can be used to calculate EHL

(total hours worked by all employees in the Hispanic/Latino population during the calendar year). The imputed 

value for EH can then be substituted back into the original hours-based fatal injury rate equation (1).

The fatal injury rates obtained exclude members of the 

resident military, volunteers, and workers under 16 years 

of age, because these groups are not included in CPS employment estimates. Rates derived from numerators that 

included three or fewer fatal injuries did not meet CFOI 

publication criteria and do not appear in this article.

Hispanic/Latino fatal injury rates 

Table 1 presents fatal injury rates from 2006 through 2008 

for Hispanic/Latino workers as a population, as well as 

separate rates for foreign-born and native-born Hispanic/

Fatal injury rates1 of Hispanic/Latino workers, by nativity and occupation, 2006-2008

Occupation All workers All Hispanic/Latino workers

2006 2007 2008 2006–2008 2006 2007 2008 2006–2008

Total 4.2 4.0 3.7 4.0 5.3 4.8 4.2 4.8

Management 3.4 3.2 3.3 3.3 2.1 1.3 1.4 

Sales and related 2.0 2.1 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.5 1.7 

 Protective service 8.6 10.0 9.1 9.2 7.8 14.0 8.0 9.9

Food preparation and serving 1.4 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4 

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 6.1 5.4 5.1 5.5 5.9 5.1 5.2 

Office and administrative support .5 .8 .5 .6 .7 .9 .5

Farming, forestry, and fishing 29.9 25.7 28.4 28.0 21.1 17.3 20.0 1

Construction and extraction 13.7 12.6 11.8 12.7 13.3 12.2 10.7 1

Installation, maintenance, and repairs 7.7 7.1 6.7 7.2 8.0 7.4 5.9 

Production 3.0 2.8 3.0 2.9 3.2 2.9 2.6 

Transportation and material moving 17.1 17.3 16.1 16.8 12.0 11.6 9.3 1

Table 1.
Fatal Injuries to Hispanic/Latino Workers

18  Monthly Labor Review • February 2013

Latino workers. The table also provides the all-worker fatal injury rate for comparison. For all of the years shown, 

the overall fatal injury rate for all Hispanic/Latino workers was higher than the rate for all workers.14 However, 

the separate rate for native-born Hispanic/Latino workers was lower than that of all workers for all years shown. 

Foreign-born workers had significantly higher rates in all 

years than did all workers. 

Given the disparities in fatal injury rates mentioned in 

the previous paragraph, examining rates for each nativity 

group by major occupation yields somewhat unexpected 

results. Four of the six occupation groups of Hispanic/

Latino workers with statistically higher rates than the 

annual average rate of 4.0 for all workers in 2006–2008 

show native-born workers as having a higher rate of fatal 

injuries than foreign-born workers. The four groups are 

farming, forestry, and fishing; construction and extraction; 

transportation and material moving; and building and 

grounds cleaning and maintenance. Foreign-born workers 

had higher rates in the other two occupation groups. Although these differences in rates between the two nativity 

groups may seem counterintuitive, a closer examination of 

employment within those occupations offers some possible reasons for the disparities.

In farming, forestry, and fishing occupations, the 3-year 

average fatal injury rate for native-born workers was 32.6 

per 100,000 FTEs while the average for foreign-born 

workers was 18.0 per 100,000 FTEs. Construction and 

extraction occupations saw a 3-year average fatal injury 

rate of 14.0 per 100,000 FTEs for native-born workers 

and 11.4 for foreign-born workers. Fatal injury rates for 

native-born and foreign-born workers in transportation 

and material moving occupations were, respectively, 12.1 

and 10.2 per 100,000 FTEs, for the 3-year average. Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations 

also had higher native-born than foreign-born fatal injury 

rates for 2 out of 3 years.

Protective services showed significantly higher rates for 

foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers than for nativeborn Hispanic/Latino workers in 2006 and 2007. Foreignborn Hispanic/Latino workers in this occupation group 

saw an average fatality rate of 15.1 per 100,000 FTEs for 

the 3-year period, compared with the native-born average 

of 8.6. Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations 

had 3-year average fatal injury rates of 7.7 per 100,000 

FTEs for foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers and 6.5 

per 100,000 FTEs for native-born Hispanic/Latino workers, although only one year, 2006, showed a statistically 

significant difference.

The rest of this article examines the composition of 

fatal injury rates, as well as occupational safety issues, for 

Hispanic/Latino workers in light of the numbers of fatal injuries and the proportions of workers employed in 

various occupations. Fatal injury rate results are analyzed 

on the basis of the total number of fatal work injuries by 

major occupation group and detailed occupation. Also asFatal occupational injuries involving Hispanic/Latino workers, by major occupation and nativity, 2006–2008

Occupation Count of all Hispanic/

Latino workers

Foreign-born Hispanic/

Latino workers

Native-born Hispanic/

Latino workers

Count Percent Count Percent

All occupations 2,731 1,804 66 927 34

Management 58 31 53 27

Sales and related 88 50 57 38

 Protective service 95 30 32 65 68

Food preparation and serving 49 34 69 15

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 249 192 77 57

 Personal care 19 10 53 9 47

Office and administrative support 44 23 52 21

Farming, forestry, and fishing 226 187 83 39

Construction and extraction 960 707 74 253

Installation, maintenance, and repair 159 92 58 67

Production 165 113 68 52

Transportation and material moving 541 313 58 228

NOTE: Detailed entries do not sum to totals because some occupations are excluded from the tabl

SOURCE: Census of Fatal Occupational Injurie

Table 2.
Monthly Labor Review • February 2013  19

sessed is employment by occupation group and nativity.

Fatal injury counts by occupation group. Table 2 lists the 

number of fatal injuries by major occupation. The table also 

gives the percentage of fatalities, by nativity, in each occupation group. Workers identified as native-born Hispanics/

Latinos account for only a third of the total fatal injuries involving Hispanic/Latino workers. The percentage is lower 

for native-born Hispanics/Latinos across all occupational 

categories except protective service occupations, in which 

native-born workers account for a greater percentage.

Three out of the four previously identified occupation 

groups in which native-born workers had higher fatal injury rates than foreign-born workers saw approximately 

one-fourth or less of Hispanic/Latino fatalities involving 

native-born workers. In other words, although more fatal 

injuries were incurred per 100,000 native-born Hispanic/

Latino FTEs, the actual number of fatal injuries suffered 

by this group was still fewer than that of foreign-born 

Hispanic/Latino workers, because larger numbers of foreign-born workers are employed in these occupations. The 

three groups were farming, forestry, and fishing; construction and extraction; and building and grounds cleaning 

and maintenance. Although the differences in percentages 

of fatal injuries are substantial, it is important to examine 

the numbers in the context of employment differences 

between the two groups; a later subsection does just that.

Fatal work injuries by detailed occupation. Differences 

also appear between distributions of fatal injuries among 

more detailed occupations within the major occupation 

groups over the 3-year period. The following tabulation 

shows that nearly 90 percent of fatal injuries to foreignborn Hispanic/Latino workers in farming, forestry, and 

fishing occupations were incurred by agricultural workers 

(percentages may sum to more or less than 100 percent 

because only selected detailed occupations are presented):

 All Foreign-born Native-born

 Hispanic/ Hispanic/ Hispanic/

 Latino Latino Latino

Occupation workers workers workers

Total (number)............................. 226 187 39

Percent:

 All farming, forestry, 

 and fishing occupations............ 100 100 100

 Agricultural workers................. 85 89 67

 Farmworkers and laborers,

 crop, nursery, and greenhouse ........................... 55 59 36

 Farmworkers, farm and

 ranch animals........................ 21 20 26

 Fisher and related fishing

 workers.................................. 6 3 21

In 2006–2008, 59 percent of the fatalities suffered by foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers in the farming, forestry, 

and fishing sector involved farmworkers and laborers in 

crop, nursery, and greenhouse occupations. In contrast, 36 

percent of native-born Hispanic/Latino fatalities involved 

farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse 

occupations. Of those workers with fatal injuries in farming, forestry, and fishing occupations, native-born Hispanic/

Latino workers suffered about 21 percent of their fatal injuries in fishing and related occupations, an occupation group 

that has one of the highest fatal injury rates overall of any 

occupation among all workers. By contrast, fishing and related occupations accounted for only 3 percent of injuries to 

foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers.

As the following tabulation shows, 88 percent of foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers’ fatal injuries suffered 

in detailed construction occupations occurred in construction trades worker occupations, compared with 77 percent 

of native-born Hispanic/Latino workers’ fatalities (again, 

percentages may sum to more or less than 100 percent 

because only selected detailed occupations are presented):

All Foreign-born Native-born

 Hispanic/ Hispanic/ Hispanic/

 Latino Latino Latino

Occupation workers workers workers

Total (number).......................... 960 707 253

Percent:

 All construction and

 extraction occupations.......... 100 100 100

 Supervisors............................ 5 4 6

 Construction trades

 workers................................ 85 88 77

 Carpenters.......................... 9 9 6

 Construction laborers......... 42 46 31

 Roofers................................ 9 10 6

 Extraction workers............... 6 4 13

Construction laborers accounted for a considerable part of 

this difference, incurring 46 percent of the total number 

of fatal injuries involving foreign-born Hispanic/Latino 

workers but just 31 percent of those involving native-born 

Hispanic/Latino workers. The proportion of native-born 

Hispanic/Latino workers who died while working in extraction occupations (13 percent) was more than 3 times 

the proportion of foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers 

who died while working in those same occupations (4 

percent). 

Heavy truck or tractor–trailer drivers suffered the most 

fatal injuries involving Hispanic/Latino workers in any 

single occupation within transportation and material moving occupations. The following tabulation shows that the 

proportion of native-born Hispanic/Latino workers who 

were fatally injured while working as a heavy truck or trac-
Fatal Injuries to Hispanic/Latino Workers

20  Monthly Labor Review • February 2013

tor–trailer driver was about 20 percent greater than the proportion of foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers (as before, 

percentages may sum to more or less than 100 percent because only selected detailed occupations are presented):

 All Foreign-born Native-born

 Hispanic/ Hispanic/ Hispanic/

 Latino Latino Latino

Occupation workers workers workers

Total (number)........................... 541 313 228

Percent:

 All transportation and

 material moving

 occupations............................. 100 100 100

 Truck drivers, heavy and

 tractor–trailer........................ 45 42 50

 Truck drivers, light or

 delivery.................................. 8 7 9

 Material moving workers....... 33 36 28

 Laborers and material

 movers, hand....................... 19 21 16

Foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers incurred 8 percentage points more of the total injuries in material moving occupations, with hand laborers and material movers 

accounting for most of the difference.

As the following tabulation shows, foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers succumbed to more than 3 out of 

4 fatal injuries within building and grounds cleaning and 

maintenance occupations (once more, percentages may 

sum to more or less than 100 percent because only selected detailed occupations are presented):

All Foreign-born Native-born Hispanic/ Hispanic/ Hispanic/ Latino Latino Latino 

 Occupation workers workers workers

Total (number)......................... 249 192 57

Percent:

 All building and grounds

 cleaning and maintenance

 occupations........................... 100 100 100

 Building, cleaning, and

 pest control workers........... 26 21 42

 Janitors and cleaners,

 except maids and

 housekeeping cleaners...... 22 18 35

 Grounds maintenance

 workers.............................. 65 71 46

 Landscaping and

 groundskeeping

 workers............................ 47 49 39

 Tree trimmers and

 pruners............................ 18 22 7

The greatest share of fatalities for these workers (71 percent) involved grounds maintenance workers. Fatal injuries involving native-born Hispanic/Latino workers were 

more likely to be split between building cleaning and pest 

control workers and grounds maintenance workers. 

Hispanic/Latino employment in selected occupations with 

high fatality rates. For all Hispanic/Latino workers, the 

greatest number of fatal injuries occurred in occupational 

categories with traditionally high fatality rates among all 

workers. However, 63 percent of all fatal injuries involving native-born Hispanic/Latino workers occurred in 

these occupations with high-fatal injury rates, compared 

with 77 percent of all fatal injuries involving foreign-born 

Hispanic/Latino workers. This difference indicates that, 

although the single-year and 3-year average fatal injury 

rates for the native-born workers were statistically higher 

in those occupations in 2008, a greater number of foreignborn Hispanic/Latino workers are employed in occupations with relatively high fatal injury rates. 

Table 3 shows the percentages of foreign- and nativeborn Hispanic/Latino workers across occupations. This 

employment distribution yields important insights into 

differences in fatal injury rates between the nativity 

groups. Native-born Hispanic/Latino workers have the 

greater representation in office and administrative support 

occupations, sales and related occupations, and management occupations, which together employ 37 percent of 

that population. As shown in table 1, fatal injury rates of 

native-born Hispanic/Latino workers were either lower 

than or on a par with the all-worker rates for management, sales and related, and office and administrative support occupations from 2006 to 2008.

Again from table 3, the occupations with high fatality rates for native-born Hispanic/Latino workers had 

the four lowest percentages of native-born employment 

of any of the six previously identified groups and made 

up only 19 percent of native-born Hispanic/Latino employment. In contrast, those same occupations accounted 

for 44 percent of foreign-born Hispanic/Latino employment. Chart 3 illustrates this proportional difference. 

The total size of the foreign-born and native-born shares 

of the Hispanic/Latino worker population is close to a 

1-to-1 ratio: 56 percent and 44 percent, respectively, of all 

Hispanic/Latino workers. Still, this ratio equates to more 

than twice as many foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers as native-born Hispanic/Latino workers employed in 

these higher risk industries. 

In contrast to the nearly equitable ratio of native- to 

foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers, 66 percent of fatal 

occupational injuries incurred by Hispanic/Latino workers in all occupations from 2006 to 2008 involved foreign-born workers, with native-born workers, of course, 

accounting for the remaining 34 percent. This is a ratio 

of nearly 2 to 1 and is an important contributor to differences in fatal injury rates between foreign-born and 
Monthly Labor Review • February 2013  21

Hispanic/Latino employment,1 by major occupation and nativity, 2006–2008

 Occupation

Count of all 

Hispanic/

Latino 

workers

Foreign-born Hispanic/Latino 

workers

Native-born Hispanic/Latino 

workers

Count Percent Count Percent

Total 20,114 11,169 56 8,945 44

Management 1,128 476 42 653

Business and financial 441 134 30 308

Sales and related 1,877 776 41 1,101

Education 626 181 29 445

 Protective service 313 66 21 247 79

Food preparation and serving 1,629 1,100 68 529

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance 1,803 1,432 79 371

 Personal care 655 321 49 334 51

Office and administrative support 2,396 803 34 1,593

Farming, forestry, and fishing 386 344 89 42

Construction and extraction 2,735 2,111 77 623

Installation, maintenance, and repair 732 393 54 338

Production 1,916 1,372 72 544

Transportation and material moving 1,683 1,044 62 638

 1 Employment is the average of the 3-year period 2006–2008.

NOTE: Detailed entries do not sum to totals because some occupations are excluded from the tabl

SOURCE: Current Population Surve

Table 3.

Transportation and material

moving

Building and grounds

cleaning and maintenance

Construction and extraction

Farming, forestry, and fishing

Other occupations

All

Hispanic/Latino

workers

Foreign-born

Hispanic/Latino

workers

Native-born

Hispanic/Latino

workers

SOURCE: Current Population Survey.

Percentage that is Hispanic/Latino in selected occupations, by nativity, 2008

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Percent Percent

 Chart 3. 
Fatal Injuries to Hispanic/Latino Workers

22  Monthly Labor Review • February 2013

native-born Hispanic/Latino workers.

In the calculation of fatal injury rates, high employment in an occupational sector effectively increases the 

denominator. Despite a large numerator (the number of 

fatal injuries), a greater denominator serves to push rates 

down for native-born Hispanic/Latino workers. In other 

words, the large number of fatal injuries involving foreignborn workers in occupations with higher fatal injury rates 

is masked by the fact that more foreign-born workers are 

employed in these occupations relative to native-born workers. Chart 4 illustrates this point. The top panel illustrates 

the difference between the fatal injury rates of foreign- and 

native-born Hispanic/Latino workers in construction and 

extraction occupations, while the bottom panel compares 

the relative numbers of foreign- and native-born Hispanics/Latinos employed in construction and extraction occupations with the number of fatal injuries incurred by 

those workers in this same occupation group. Note that, 

Foreign-born

Native-born

Influence of employment on Hispanic/Latino fatal injury rates,1 Chart 4. construction and extraction, 2008

Fatal injury rates

Employment Fatal injuries

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

20

15

10

5

0

20

15

10

5

0

Native-born Hispanic/Latino workers

Foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers

1 The fatal injury rate is the number of fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent employees.

SOURCES: Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, Current Population Surve

Percent

Number employed

or fatally injured

Number employed

or fatally injured

Percent
Monthly Labor Review • February 2013  23

although the number of fatal injuries is more than 3 times 

higher for foreign-born than for native-born Hispanic/

Latino workers, the greater relative difference in employment causes the fatal injury rate for native-born workers to 

be higher. This is despite the fact that considerably more 

foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers are exposed to the 

higher risks of employment in the construction industry 

and that they suffer a much higher absolute number of fatal 

injuries than do native-born Hispanic/Latino workers.

HISPANIC/LATINO WORKERS HAVE AN OVERALL higher fatal injury rate than that of all workers. Native-born 

Hispanics/Latinos tend to succumb to occupational injuries at a higher rate than foreign-born Hispanics/Latinos 

in occupations that typically have higher all-worker fatal 

injury rates, but that is because native-born Hispanic/Latino workers’ employment in these same occupations is less 

than half that of foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers. 

Therefore, despite some indication that the native-born 

workers may face greater risks in these sectors, efforts at 

improving worker safety may prevent more workplace 

injuries in the foreign-born Hispanic/Latino population 

because of the larger numbers of such workers who are 

employed in relatively risky occupations. Certainly, great 

strides have been taken to combat occupational injuries 

among Hispanic/Latino workers, but much still can be 

done to combat the gap between their level of workplace 

safety and that of other worker populations.

Notes

1 Dr. David Michaels, “Modernizing OSHA: Plenary Remarks,” 

paper presented at the American Society of Safety Engineers Professional Development Conference & Expo, Baltimore, Maryland, June 

14, 2010, http://osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_

table=SPEECHES&p_id=2221. 

2 John Howard, M.D., paper presented at the National Action Summit 

for Latino Worker Health and Safety, Houston, Texas, Apr. 14, 2010, http://

www.osha.gov/latinosummit/speech_drhowardcumbre_04-14-10.html. 

3 See “Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities: Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries—Current and Revised Data” (U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics, Oct. 18, 2012), http://www.bls.gov/iif/oshcfoi1.htm. 

4 See “Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey” 

(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Dec. 7, 2012), http://www.bls.gov/

cps/home.htm.

5 “Statistical Profiles of the Hispanic and Foreign-Born Populations in the U.S” (Washington, DC, Pew Research Hispanic Center, 

Mar. 30, 2010), http://www.pewhispanic.org/2010/03/30/statisticalprofiles-of-the-hispanic-and-foreign-born-populations-in-the-us. 

6 See Table S0201, Selected Population Profile in the United States, 

2006–2008, American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau, Sept. 30, 

2010), “Measuring America—People, Places, and Our Economy,” http://

factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.

xhtml?pid=ACS_08_3YR_S0201&prodType=table; and Table C03001, 

Hispanic or Latino Origin by Specific Origin, 2006–2008, American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau, Aug. 4, 2010), “Measuring America—People, Places, and Our Economy,” http://factfinder2.census.gov/

faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_08_3YR_

C03001&prodType=table.

7 See Table B05006, Place of Birth for the Foreign-Born 

Population, 2006–2008, American Community Survey (U.S. 

Census Bureau, Aug. 4, 2010), “Measuring America—People, 

Places, and Our Economy,” http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/

tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_08_3YR_

B05006&prodType=table.

8 See “20 FAQs about Hispanics” (Washington, DC, National Council of La Raza, 2010), http://www.nclr.org/index.php/about_us/faqs/

most_frequently_asked_questions_about_hispanics_in_the_us; and 

“Immigrant Workers at Risk: The Urgent Need for Improved Workplace Safety and Health Policies and Programs” (Washington, DC, 

AFL-CIO, August 2005), http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/

laborunions/28.

9 S. Buchanan, “Day labor and occupational health: time to take a closer 

look,” New Solutions, vol. 14, no. 3, 2004, pp. 253–260, http://baywood.

metapress.com.ezproxy.welch.jhmi.edu/media/9a0kwvtrrl7317hp9g7t/

contributions/0/f/a/t/0fatlrgyam4dcd2p.pdf.

10 See Table 20. Language Spoken at Home and English-Speaking 

Ability, by Age, Race and Ethnicity: 2008 (Washington, DC, Pew 

Research Hispanic Center), “Statistical Portrait of the HispanicPopulation in the United States, 2008,” http://www.pewhispanic.

org/2010/01/21/statistical-portrait-of-hispanics-in-the-unitedstates-2008/2008-statistical portrait-23.

11 See Table 23. Persons, by Educational Attainment and Region 

of Birth: 2008, “Statistical Portrait of the Foreign-Born Population in 

the United States, 2008,” http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/

foreignborn2008/Table%2023.pdf. 

12 See Table 38. Persons Without Health Insurance, by Age, Race 

and Ethnicity: 2008, “Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United 

States, 2008,” http://www.pewhispanic.org/2010/01/21/statisticalportrait-of-hispanics-in-the-united-states-2008/2008-statisticalportrait-45.

13 For example, all Hispanic/Latino workers, foreign-born Hispanic/Latino workers, and native-born Hispanic/Latino workers.

14 Note that, although single-year rate comparisons are statistically 

significant, statistical significances for the 3-year average rate comparisons shown in the table were not established; therefore, caution should 

be used in discussing the comparisons.