04/23/2008

Last week we asked readers about multilingual safety training in your workplaces. Here's what we found out:

• Is your workplace multilingual? Approximately 67 percent of respondents said that their workplace is multilingual.


• Have you encountered difficulties communicating safety procedures to your workforce? Half of the responding employers reported having difficulties communicating safety procedures.


• How do you tailor your safety training to overcome language and cultural barriers? Employers said that they conduct intense training, post signs in English and Spanish, use signs with pictures or symbols, use hand gestures during conversations, and ask the employee who has the best English skills among the workers in a non-English-speaking group to help communicate with his or her co-workers.