For Hard Hats, a Confusion of Tongues
By TINA KELLEY
Published: December 15, 1999
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Last summer, as a worker welded steel beams in a church in Aurora, Colo., falling sparks ignited wooden trusses below. Another worker, seeing the flames and smoke, yelled a warning, but the welder did not understand a word.
He spoke Spanish; his co-worker spoke Russian. So the fire spread, causing several hundred thousand dollars in damages. ''If someone could've communicated there, there would've been less damage, and they could have stopped the spread of the fire,'' said Terry Kish, director of human resources services for the Colorado Contractors Association in Englewood.
As more immigrants pour into the United States, more workplaces are resounding with the sound of foreign tongues. Keeping the lines of communication open among linguistic groups is important in any work setting, of course, but nowhere is it more critical than in the construction trade, where misunderstandings can set in motion million-dollar mistakes -- or cost lives.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cites the example of a demolition worker who was killed last year when he was struck by the boom of the machine he was operating while demolishing a Manhattan office building. He left the machine while it was running and inadvertently pressed the boom control pedal. The safety instruction book was written in English; the worker understood only Polish.
