Being a third generation growing up and working with migrant workers has given me the opportunity to live, experience and see how our people suffer and constantly get injured during the process of achieving the America dream. I clearly remember the days when my family and I, and those of my culture used to live in the fields, cook out of a fire (we were lucky we had propane stove), sleep in a tent, take showers on green-looking canals near the fields, and play in the orchards. I witnessed how rapidly our culture began to obtain various jobs, such as those in manufacturing, industrial, commercial, construction and even professional positions. We had one goal in mind when working on the jobs: to try as hard as possible to complete them to best of our knowledge, even if we hurt ourselves during the process of the job. See picture "A" which illustrates that no matter what it takes the job will be completed. We do it because we have the mentality to please our superior management to obtain our goal, keeping a job and earning money to better the life of our families.
Culture Barriers to Safety emphasizes the cultural background, primarily the Mexican culture where one of the authors descends from. At the beginning of the presentation the speaker provides a background on how the culture barriers to safety began, and how we have experienced and/or tested the material with Intel Corporation in Costa Rica and Mexico, and local governmental agencies such as NM Workers Compensation, OSHA and the Mexican council. The cultural background includes detailed discussion of the educational, sociological, personal, and economic factors. Our presentation follows with recommendations on how to build trust and communication, along with recommendations for the employer when working with the employees.
During the body of the presentation the speaker will cover two modules that were developed to train employers and employees. Techniques such as planning for safety, as well as graphics and visual demonstrations are used to get our message across. A discussion on teamwork, open dialogue and open forums are also presented to the audience. Toward the end of the presentation an overview of a safety program will be discussed to show how the above techniques can be employed for training migrant workers to value their safety and that of their co-workers. In conclusion, a summary with all the key points of the culture barriers to safety will be re-stated. The presentation method employed will be delivery of a Power Point presentation, inclusive of photographs, by one or both of the co-authors of the paper.
