For the thirteenth consecutive year, Safety Consultation and Training Section (SCATS) of the State of Nevada’s Division of Industrial Relations has designated April as Hispanic Safety Month. As Nevada’s Hispanic workforce continues to steadily increase, safety on the job remains an important issue for the state’s employers. To help promote the significance of workplace safety, especially among Hispanic employees, SCATS will dedicate the month of April to highlight and support the well-being of Nevada’s Hispanic workforce. SCATS will offer bilingual safety and health training courses in Las Vegas and Reno in addition to their ongoing Spanish training resources and materials available.
“Our goal is to educate all of Nevada’s workers, including Hispanic employees, about how to remain safe in the workplace,” said Todd Schultz, Chief Administrative Officer for SCATS. “We are able to provide Spanish speaking assistance in our free consultation services as well as have a number of resources in Spanish available. Our free bilingual classes on safety and health in the workplace will be offered in Reno and Las Vegas during Hispanic Safety Month, as well as periodically throughout the year and upon request.”
SCATS is able to offer Spanish speaking assistance to businesses and employees in Nevada through a variety of services. SCATS offers free on-site safety and health consultation services for businesses in Nevada which are focused on hazard identification as well as preventing injuries and illnesses and Spanish speaking assistance can be made available if needed. In addition, SCATS has established a free of charge, video lending library consisting of hundreds of safety and health videos and many of which are in Spanish. The videos cover a variety of safety and health topics and are available for employers to borrow.
Nationally, the Hispanic workforce experiences a high number of injuries and fatalities on the job. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reports fatal work injuries involving Hispanic or Latino workers have the highest number of fatalities after the Caucasian workforce. This number could be understated as Hispanic workers’ injuries are not often reported because of citizenship issues. To combat this issue, SCATS provides free workplace safety classes in Spanish upon request, and throughout the year in Reno and Las Vegas. In April, SCATS will offer a bilingual class in Reno and five classes in Henderson for the Hispanic workforce. SCATS will also be at the Consulate of Mexico in Las Vegas, located at 823 S. 6th Street, every Monday in April to provide additional information.
The month-long class schedule for bilingual classes in April is as follows: