OSHA, Consulate of Mexico in Seattle Form Alliance to Help Workers

Giving employers and workers of Mexican descent the information and training resources to understand their rights and responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act is the goal of a new alliance to be signed Feb. 8 by the U.S. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle.

Richard Terrill, OSHA regional administrator in Seattle said, “This alliance will allow OSHA and the Mexican Consulate to combine resources to get effective workplace safety and health messages out to workers and employers of Mexican descent. Information, training, and guidance in safe work practices and employee/employer rights and responsibilities under the law will help reduce the number of fatalities and injuries that occur in this segment of the working population in this country.”

Under the alliance, OSHA and the Mexican Consulate in Seattle will develop training programs and materials, including brief, plain-language fact sheets or pictorials to simplify complex regulations or potential occupational hazards.

Other safety and health-related information will be offered to affected workers and employers during ‘mobile consulate” programs, through Spanish radio broadcasts and other electronic media, and at events or forums such as the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce meetings and the annual Mexican Festival of Independence celebration in Seattle.

Consul Jorge Madrazo will sign the alliance on behalf of the Mexican Consulate in Seattle.