Construction worker using smartphone near the site. Photo contributed

When it comes to the jobsite, accidents and injuries occur no matter how diligent an employer might be in safety compliance and training.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), private industry employers reported 2.8 million nonfatal workplace injuries in 2022, up 7.5% from 2021.

There were 5,486 fatal work injuries across all U.S. sectors in 2022. In California, there were 504 fatal injuries, 133 transportation incidents and 132 suspected exposures to harmful substances or environments.

According to the BLS, 1,069 construction fatalities occurred in 2022 in the U.S., a 7.7% increase from 2021.

Workers in natural resources, construction and maintenance occupations tend to suffer the most fatal injuries. In California, 155 died in 2022.

Building safety

Language barriers between employers and employees can threaten worker safety, not to mention productivity.

A startup with local connections is working to overcome those challenges.

“We wanted to come up with something better than Google Translate that was going to eliminate those language barriers and allow English speakers and non-English speaking workers to communicate directly,” said Oscar Garcia, founder and CEO of Need2Say.

Need2Say is an Irvine-based company designing mobile apps — Need2Say Learning and Need2Say Chat — to help employers reduce risk, improve productivity and increase profitability.

Need2Say was a recent winner in the Fresno Area Hispanic Foundation’s pitch competition and received a $10,000 prize.

The Need2Say apps allow for real-time effective translation for English, Spanish and several other languages. It relies on human-powered translation during work hours. It allows workers to share photos of the worksite and send their supervisors messages if they have questions.

The app also features videos on mental health awareness for workers.

Garcia, who has a background in linguistics, is the son of an immigrant construction worker who suffered numerous injuries at work through the years — as well as missed career opportunities due to language barriers.

The app features the most common languages spoken in California, including Spanish, Farsi, Khmer, Vietnamese and Filipino.

He said he started working on the app right before the end of the pandemic to help people like his dad. It officially launched in September 2022.

Need2Say just finished pilot testing and is currently working with eight construction companies including Turner Construction, which has a presence in Fresno.

The companies using the app are in California, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas and Alabama.

He said that a majority of construction workers that suffer injuries on the job are Hispanic or Latino.

According to the BLS, 252 Hispanic or Latino construction workers suffered fatal injuries in 2022, compared to 164 white construction worker that suffered fatal injuries in that same year.

Garcia said the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (CalOSHA) lists the top four causes of construction fatalities as falls, being struck by an object, getting caught in or between objects and electrocutions, but he adds language barriers are a cause of death as well.

The app will allow workers to ask safety questions and receive answers from CalOSHA as well as the employer’s own safety manual.

Many Hispanic and Latino workers do not ask questions out of fear they would be seen as incompetent, Garcia said.

Workers can also ask questions anonymously through the app.

Employers looking for new workers will be able to see which applicants were more engaged in safety training.

Need2Say also has connections with Fresno State, giving the university data to help prove the concept.

That data should be ready to present in a month or two, Garcia said.

Safer practices

At PNM Co., a computer numerical control (CNC) machining company in Fresno in business for over 40 years, safety practices and training are constant.

Each month, the PNM team gets together for safety meetings on various safety topics, said Mario Persicone, director of operations.

If an injury does occur, it is logged. That type of injury is discussed at a subsequent meeting to prevent such injuries in the future.

Persicone said the company recently brought in robotics to the shop that also come with safety precautions for humans working around them.

“We are currently updating our equipment, which means we have to update our safety manuals and make sure we speak about the new pieces of equipment in the safety meetings that we hold,” Persicone said.

The new automation initiative —  “cobots,” or collaborative robots — are designed for direct human-robot interaction within a shared space.

This automation lessens the need for stringent safety requirement as the larger, traditional industrial robots have more potential of harming workers.

Some of the CalOSHA laws could make it difficult to operate, but being mindful of the laws and safety regulations, and having few injuries and mostly minor, first-aid injuries, saves companies from safety inspections.

“It’s difficult keeping up with every law, and it does cost companies a lot of money to conform, but in the end it’s to keep everyone safe,” Persicone said.