Construction Jobs Are Getting Safer—but Not for Latinos

*I like how this piece  shines a light on the invisible: immigrants working on rooftops, doing yard work … The problem is not just an income gap, it’s also a risk gap. VL

By Michelle Chen, The Nation

There are many ways to measure inequality: the wealth gap, the achievement gap, the gender gap. But we face a hidden gap at work everyday—a safety gap, the line that measures our risk of death and injury on the job. And often, the gap tracks the country’s racial divide, with Latino workers on the wrong side.

According to an analysis of federal safety data by Buzzfeed, “between 2010 and 2013, the number of deaths among Latinos in the construction industry rose from 181 to 231. The number of deaths also rose in the industry overall, from 774 to 796. But Latinos account for this rise entirely: during the same period, deaths for non-Latino construction workers fell from 593 to 565.”

So the chances of surviving a day at work may turn on demographics, often at the expense of Latino workers who pay in life and limb.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo by Miltiadis Kapodistrias/Flickr]

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