Training the Non English Speaking Workforce

On April 28, 2010 OSHA issued a memorandum on their training policy in regards to non-English speaking workers. The purpose of this memorandum is to reiterate OSHA's policy that employee training required by OSHA standards must be presented in a manner that employees can understand, and to provide enforcement guidance to the area and regional offices relative to the Agency's training standards. This position applies to all of the agency's agriculture, construction, general industry, and maritime training requirements.


The majority of focus seems to be on the growing Latino and Hispanic speaking workforce here in the United States. Hispanic workers occupy about 14% of the job market and tend to work in dangerous jobs such as construction and mining.

The memorandum stresses that the training must account for any limitations, such as vocabulary, that the non-English speaking worker may have. This is in fact a huge limitation with training a Spanish speaking population. Many Spanish speaking workers have a limited vocabulary and are illiterate. So, how do you ensure your Spanish speaking or non-English workers are trained properly?

First and foremost, the audio in any training DVD or online course should be translated into the dialect of the worker. This is more than likely not the Spanish your kid is learning in high school. Professional language translators should be able to translate courses into a ‘common’ or ‘everyday’ form of the language. If you are getting your online or DVD courses from a vendor, you can ask them if their training is translated at a conversational level and that the vocabulary is at around a fifth grade level to ensure that it is easy to comprehend.

Secondly, look at the content of the video or online course you are showing. Does the video have a lot of ‘talking heads’ or presenters simply standing in front of the camera and speaking? This isn’t a very effective form of training for any student, nor is it very engaging; however, if your student is not as comfortable with language, showing them the proper way to do their job with correct visual representation will be the most effective.
Translated support materials are nice, but since most Spanish speaking workers are unable to read their own language, they may be ineffective. Focus on the visual when training non English speaking workers.

Online training is a good alternative to classroom training for Spanish speaking workers. Pre- and post-test options and remediation offer a complete learning experience and assurance that material is comprehended and retained by the students. Spanish-speaking students can learn with confidence and without feeling out of the loop. There are more and more resources available in the Spanish language, and greater customization options with online training that allow you to include site-specific information in Spanish. Hispanic employees will not feel the pressure of a normal classroom setting and will be more likely to communicate with the safety director on a one-to-one basis.

For information on Summit's foreign language training programs, including many in Spanish, visit http://www.safetyontheweb.com/