As Deadline for Safety Training Looms, Undocumented Workers Left Out
Since his arrival in New York from Trinidad and Tobago four months ago, Kevin (whose last name is being withheld) has had a hard time finding work. Because he’s undocumented, few employers are willing to hire him. Kevin has little technical training, and the work he has found has been limited to jobs such as demolition.
Things for Kevin are about to get harder. Starting December 1, he might be asked by employers to show proof that he has received a 30-hour construction safety training course. Kevin, however, can’t afford to pay for one.
“That is a challenge,” Kevin said.
In a little under two months, daily logs on major sites across the city will have to show that workers have received at least 30 hours of safety training, including one module on fall protection. The requirement is part of Local Law 196, which was passed in 2017. The legislation aims to implement stronger safety standards in a notoriously dangerous industry.
The training has to meet the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s standards. Employers, permit holders, and building owners will be fined up to $5,000 for each untrained worker.
One hundred thousand workers belonging to unions can count on their organizations to provide the training for free. But some of the thousands of nonunion laborers say they can’t shoulder the cost. And while undocumented workers are not the only ones facing this problem, they’re especially vulnerable.
Without the training, well-paying jobs on 8,000 major sites will be out of reach, and some workers might be stuck on smaller projects where safety guidelines are more likely to be disregarded. Local Law 196 only applies to work on buildings at least 10 stories high, where most fatal falls occur.
“We need providers who have the capacity and the resources to provide these trainings at low cost,” said Ligia M. Guallpa, the co-executive director of Worker’s Justice Project or WJP, a workers’ rights and safety advocacy group.
Prices for the safety training range from $300 to $500. Only a handful of organizations offer the training for free, often only in Spanish.
In an effort to make the training more accessible, the city is funding some course providers like WJP. But there are only so many workers the group can train, Guallpa said, and over 200 are on a waiting list.
A second hurdle undocumented workers face is the language barrier.
Sixty percent of the city’s over 150,000 construction workers are immigrants, according to a New York State Comptroller report in 2017. Finding a course delivered in a language other than English or Spanish can be difficult. Guallpa said she has received increasing demand for courses in Bengali. None of the 27 course-providers listed by the city’s Department of Buildings in New York offer training in that language.
As a result, it is often easier for non-English speakers to get a job on small projects. There, contractors might find they have little incentive to spend money to train their workers.
“You have to balance keeping your workers on the job site, and yet still getting them the training,” said Brian Sampson, the president of Empire Chapter at ABC Associated Builders and Constructors.
