r2p & p2r at Work: Reaching Vulnerable Workers

Young workers, Latino workers, new entrants to the industry, and those working for small contractors have been found to be at a higher risk for an injury or fatality than the construction workforce as a whole.  Reaching these workers and their employers can be challenging because they are often unorganized and work on very small or isolated projects. Many work in the residential sector.

CPWR is engaging researchers and other concerned stakeholders through a series of roundtable discussions and projects to identify and overcome barriers to getting critical safety and health information, tools, and resources into the hands of these workers and their employers.

The following research has been conducted and information compiled in support of this work:

Latino Workers

• Pilot-testing the Safety Climate Assessment Tool (S-CAT^sc) for Small Hispanic Construction Firms
• CPWR Resources on Latino Workers, Young Workers, and Small Businesses in the Construction Industry 
• CPWR’s Latino Construction Worker Resource Collection 
• CPWR Literature Review and Environmental Scan for Better Translation of Research to Practice in Residential Construction
• Reaching and Influencing Small Residential Contractors’ Safety and Health Practices
• Promoting adoption of fall prevention measures among Latino workers and residential contractors: Formative research findings. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 58: 870–879

Women in the Trades

• Women make up a small but important part of the construction workforce. One of the challenges facing women in the trades is finding personal protective equipment (PPE) that fits properly. This is a serious issue because PPE that does not fit properly will not adequately protect against occupational hazards and may increase the risk for illnesses, injuries and death. CPWR's "Construction Personal Protective Equipment for the Female Workforce" provides a quick reference to help women find PPE that fits and protects.