When, in 2005, the overall construction fatalities in this country dropped 1.2 percent, Hispanic construction fatality rates actually rose an alarming 2 percent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12 percent of serious, lost-time injuries of Hispanic construction workers occurred on their very first day of employment. It is obvious that poor, ineffective or totally neglected communication on the construction site is the leading direct cause of injury, illness and death among non-English- speaking workers — a group projected to become the leading sector of construction labor. It’s clear something meaningful must be done quickly to remove the language barriers. A feasible solution could actually be here, in our hands today.
I’ve reached an age where I am hardly surprised anymore. However, that all changed when I recently read an article titled “Portable Language Translation Device Being Used by Clearwater Police.” The device in the article was called ELSA, and its name is an acronym derived from Enabling Language Service Anywhere.