The restoration industry is demanding, and ever-changing. It’s also diverse. Did you know some of the industry’s most successful company owners and employees speak English as a second language? Their first: Spanish. There are no hard statistics on how many Hispanics work in restoration, but we can make some guesses. A 2011 study from the US Dept. of Labor states that 1 in 4 construction workers are Hispanic. The US Census Bureau states the Hispanic population was over 50 million in 2010. Those numbers imply a significant percentage of restoration industry bosses, employees and customers speak Spanish primarily, and English when needed.
Every day, restoration businesses find great Hispanic workers, but are not finding effective ways to train their workers. According to OSHA, workplace injuries are more than 20 percent higher for Hispanic employees than other groups. There are several reasons for this increase – not the least of which is training.