Texas Hispanic Construction Worker Mortalities Are Alarming: Is Anyone Listening?

The news was alarming: Hispanic construction workers represent over half (56%) of the state’s COVID-19 deaths although Hispanics currently represent 40 percent of the state’s population.  The story, reported today by The Dallas Morning News,[1]discussed the results of a research study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by a team of researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. The study pointed to the increased risk faced by Hispanic construction workers and living arrangements that preclude social distancing.

The story is also concerning for the issues that were not addressed. For example, the story did not include any comments from the one organization in North Texas that would have relevant insights to contribute to our understanding of this elevated health threat to Hispanic construction workers:  The Regional Hispanic Contractors Association.  

Previous COVID-19 news reports have focused considerable attention on essential workers in healthcare, the food industry and other occupations. However, the risks faced by construction workers have received relatively little attention, especially Hispanic workers who comprise 30 percent of all construction workers. Under the current administration, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has relaxed their inspections of occupations to verify compliance with COVID-19 safety measures which has undoubtedly contributed to the increased risk faced by Hispanic workers who often do not wear face masks.

Of course, we have known for several months that Hispanics and Blacks have been experiencing higher levels of COVID-19 illnesses and mortalities.  As I discussed in an earlier report,[2]  these COVID-19 mortality rates are likely much higher for Blacks and Hispanics since state and federal health data are often missing information on the race or ethnicity of COVID-19 mortalities. There is a simple procedure available that can estimate the race-ethnicity of a person based on their name and zip code with 80 to 90 percent accuracy – a tool that could be used to fill in the missing data and obtain a better estimate of COVID-19 mortalities.  

Communication of these alarming health risks to the right audiences is also problematic. For example, it is not likely that the Hispanic construction workers and families that need to know about their elevated risk of death related to COVID-19 will read the report in JAMA or The Dallas Morning News.  During the pandemic period, audiences are more likely to obtain news information from television and online sources if they have Internet access. And Hispanic construction workers are more likely to use Spanish-language sources of information.  Consequently, it is imperative that Spanish-language television stations like Univision and Telemundo assume an increased responsibility to ensure that COVID-19 health alerts are regularly communicated to their audiences.  Moreover, organizations like the Regional Hispanic Construction Association are perhaps the best vehicle to deliver and reinforce the health alerts to their membership.

While the issue of increased COVID-19 exposure and deaths of Hispanic construction workers is urgent, one wonders if the study findings will be sufficient to wake up the various stakeholders to take decisive action. As the story points out, Dallas-Fort Worth is second among the country’s largest building markets in September this year with an estimated 155,000 workers in the building sector.  But as one of the study authors, professor Lauren Meyers pointed out, the study findings do not necessarily mean that construction work needs to stop. “It means that we need to go to great lengths to ensure the health and safety of workers when they do go to work.” 

In the meantime, let’s ensure that Hispanic construction workers and their families are informed about the elevated risks that they face from COVID-19 and, more importantly, that they are provided practical solutions to mitigate the risks.  Following are a few suggestions for achieving these objectives: 

• Being the second highest building market in the nation, it seems reasonable to ask investors and builders to create a fund that is dedicated to keeping the Hispanic contractors and workforce safe and able to meet basic expenses. 

• Create a fund to offset the costs of funeral expenses for the many Hispanic families who have lost a family member working in the construction industry.

• Pressure OSHA to conduct more frequent checks of construction work sites to ensure that workers are following COVID-19 safety guidelines and have a sufficient supply of PPE supplies.

• Provide funding for temporary shelter, such as trailers or hotel rooms, to provide family members the opportunity to quarantine themselves when necessary from exposed construction workers. 

• Ensure that all construction workers are tested for the COVID-19 virus before starting their work shift.

• Provide continuing funding to organizations such as the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association so that they are able to conduct the needed training to Hispanic contractors regarding COVID-19 safety measures and risks.

• Lastly, ensure that all COVID-19 related communications are delivered in both English and Spanish languages.  Native-born Hispanics primarily view English-language media while foreign-born Hispanics primarily view Spanish-language media – a fact that we have confirmed from our 45 years of evaluating the media habits of Hispanics throughout the U.S.

End Notes