Research makes clear that routine work disturbing painted surfaces can create lead dust hazards. “Basic training”
in lead-safe work practices is now readily available to teach painters, remodelers, and maintenance staff the modest changes in work practices that are needed to control, contain, and clean up any lead dust generated by their work.
Day laborers are typically hired by building contractors for a low hourly wage (with no benefits) and assigned low-skill tasks, such as demolishing and removing dilapidated building components and scraping loose paint.
Training in lead-safe work practices (LSWP) will increase the possibility that these workers will protect themselves and their children from lead dust hazards.
It is crucial that delivery of this training be targeted to the increasingly immigrant and non-English-speaking day laborer population who staff the “front line” of repair and rehab work, so that they will know why and how to work safely in all jobs. Immigrant/refugee relief programs, rural assistance programs, and human rights organizations can help locate this population and market lead safety training to them.
B
ENEFITSImmediate/Direct Results: Training day laborers to work in a lead-safe manner will result in a reduction in lead dust hazards created due to rehab, repainting, and renovation of pre-1978 housing. Increased awareness in immigrant communities of the relationship between housing and health, and lead hazards specifically, will be a direct result of efforts to train day laborers to work safely.
Public Health Benefits: From a public health perspective, training day laborers to use lead-safe work practices will result in reduced exposure to lead by both families whose homes are being painted or renovated, and the families of day laborers through prevention of the dispersal of lead dust and paint from track-in on the clothes and shoes of the worker.
Other Indirect/Collateral Benefits: Day laborers increase their own power over their health by demanding the right to use lead-safe work practices to protect clients, themselves, and their families.
S
COPE OFP
OTENTIALI
MPACTStaff requirements: Minimum 0.25 FTE plus time for trainers.
Other resource requirements: Partnerships with Labor Occupational Health and Safety (LOSH) centers.
Institutional capacity required: Experienced bilingual trainer(s) required. Using the “train the trainer” model is most effective in orienting new trainers since peer-to-peer education can continue beyond the scope and funding stream of the program.
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Cost considerations: Cost for equipment and sufficient materials for the number of workers to be trained should be considered.
Timing issues: Two to three years may be needed to develop and complete a comprehensive program.
Feasibility of Implementation: Moderate
P
OTENTIALO
BSTACLES/B
ARRIERSThe obstacles to delivering a lead-safe work practices training to non-English speaking immigrant communities are many and varied. Skilled, culturally-competent trainers are need to teach the Spanish version of the HUD
EPA course Lead Safety for Remodeling, Repair and Painting. The course has not yet been translated into languages needed by non-Spanish speaking immigrants who may also be working as day laborers and at risk for lead hazard exposure. Since many immigrants may not have been able to attend school in their country of origin long enough to equip them to sit through a long, classroom-style training, delivery needs to be paced or staged and include hands-on practices.
The main obstacle to getting day laborers to use lead-safe work practices is that the relationship between day laborers and their employers is not conducive to the workers changing work methods based on law and safety.
Simply providing a training opportunity for workers is not enough—employers must be motivated or required to comply with lead safety requirements.
A
DDITIONALR
ESOURCES1. The HUD/EPA 5½-hour training course includes valuable hands-on exercises and is available in Spanish.
www.hud.gov/offices/lead/training/rrp/rrp_course.cfm
2. Free training in LSWP is available across the country under the Attorneys General agreement with the National Paint and Coatings Association (NPCA). www.leadsafetraining.org
3. HUD’s lead-safe housing rule requires training when performing work that disturbs paint in federally-assisted pre-1978 housing.
www.hud.gov/offices/lead/leadsaferule/index.cfm
4. Arellano, G, “Diary of a Day Laborer: A human drama in 5 parts”, Orange County Weekly.
www.ocweekly.com/ink/01/50/cover-arellano.php
I
LLUSTRATION OFS
TRATEGY INP
RACTICEIn 1999, UCLA’s Center for the Study on Urban Poverty estimated that about 20,000 day laborers work in more than 90 sites in Los Angeles and Orange counties. An estimated 98 percent of these workers are from Mexico or Central America; about 95 percent of them enter illegally. Since 1999, that number has continued to grow.
In the face of these trends, the Healthy Homes Outreach Project in Los Angeles has trained over 200 mostly non-English speaking workers, primarily from Mexico and Central America. At four day laborer job centers in Los Angeles and Hollywood, community organizers distributed flyers introducing basic information about lead hazards and the purpose and logistics of the training and recruited training participants. The training was delivered at the day laborer job centers because the sites were well-known to the target audience and because workers who could not find work that day would be readily available to participate. Some workers who
previously committed to attending the training could not attend because they found work on the day training was provided and could not afford to miss a rare job opportunity.
This project worked with Labor Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) centers at University of California–
Berkeley and University of California–Los Angeles, which provided worker education around hazards including
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lead, asbestos, and chemicals. The LOSH partners also educated day laborers on their rights and OSHA requirements and violations.
Funding for this project was provided by a small, local private foundation. Respirators distributed to class participants were purchased with funds from another California-based foundation.
Jurisdiction or Target Area: Los Angeles, CA
Primary Actors: Healthy Homes Collaborative of Southern California, Instituto de Educacion Popular de Sur California (IDEPSCA), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Secondary Actor(s): LOSH – UC Berkeley, LOSH – UCLA
Staffing utilized: 2 FTE organizers recruited and followed up with workers.
Other resources utilized: Respirators, trainers, training facilities, Spanish language capabilities
Factors essential to implementation: In Los Angeles, healthy homes advocates have found that several steps are needed to successfully deliver the Spanish-language version of the lead-safe work practices course to day laborers. Most day laborers are unable to give up a full 8-hour workday in order to attend training for which they are not compensated. Therefore, advocates have divided the training into several evening sessions. Second, trainers emphasize the self-protective benefits of lead safety, since linking the issue to worker protection has been an important step in engaging day laborers in the issue of lead-safety and in how to prevent hazards in the first place. Third, using written materials as little as possible, and relying on face-to-face explanations and hands-on use of equipment has been the most successful teaching method.
Limitations/challenges/problems encountered: The main barrier to getting day laborers to use lead safe work practices is the employer. Given the scarcity of work for a growing population of workers, day laborers are unwilling to raise concern over lead safety with their employers, if they are even aware of this issue. Community and union organizers need to support workers in protecting themselves and their families by “blowing the whistle” on employers circumventing lead safety laws in order to get work done as quickly and cheaply as possible without regard to the health and safety of either the family whose home is being painted or repaired or the family of the worker.
Magnitude of actual impact: The project trained 200 workers in one year. Since a typical day laborer works on an average of 50-100 homes annually, this training has added lead-safe work practices to thousands of projects.
Potential for replication: Moderate. Replica (modified) projects have or are being carried out in several other immigrant communities in the United States, including the Mission District in San Francisco, CA. Every
“replication” of this project will vary due to local political, population, and socio-economic variances. This project can most successfully be replicated where lead-safe work practices are required during painting and remodeling activities.
Contacts for Specific Information Linda Kite
Coordinator
Healthy Homes Collaborative of Southern California 213-689-9170
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References for additional information 1. www.chirla.org/programs.htm
2. www.dph.sf.ca.us/ehs/enviro_times/archives/Nov2002/dl_osh_training.htm
Building Capacity for Lead Safety