Welcome to Protección en Construcción (PenC): The Lawrence Latino* Safety Partnership
Thank you for visiting our PenC website. Our project brings together people and organizations in Lawrence who care about construction worker safety. Also known as the Lawrence Latino Safety Partnership, we are part of a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) initiative funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to design, implement and evaluate prevention strategies to decrease injuries and illnesses in construction sites with a focus on Latino* construction workers. FOR MORE CLICK HERE
PenC focuses on Hispanic construction workers because Latino construction workers are at risk. The construction sector, where a lot of Hispanics work, has the highest number of deadly work injuries as well as the highest rates for non-fatal work injuries and Latinos are disproportionately injured in construction fatal and non-fatal events.
Hundreds of Latino workers are killed at work every year.
Falls in construction are a leading cause of death on the job in Massachusetts. Another major problem is that construction workers can breathe silica dust when cutting concrete which causes cancer and other serious respiratory diseases.
This research project is community-based and community-directed. Contractors, workers, local businesses, community organizations, residents and government agencies share their experiences in interviews and focus groups, and participate in safety improvement projects. Our goal is to find ways to prevent falls and silica exposure affecting construction workers, with a focus on Latino construction workers.
* Both terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” are used interchangeable throughout the document.
Our project is funded by Grant number R01OH008750-2007-01A1 2007-2012, from the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health NIOSH. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH.
