 "Photo: Peyton McGee/The Daily Texan")
Construction worker Fontino Cortes-Cruz was killed early last Wednesday morning in a hit-and-run incident on I-35 near Onion Creek Parkway.
According to Detective Mike McCarter of the Austin Police Department, the SUV that struck Cruz was travelling at approximately 70 mph. The driver, David Delacerda, fled the scene and did not render aid. Delacerda later checked himself into a South Austin hospital with burns on his body. An SUV, believed to be his vehicle, was found torched outside of Kyle, and McCarter said he is in custody at Travis county jail on charges of manslaughter.
This recent incident has caught the attention of The U.S. Hispanic Contractors Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates safety training for workers in the construction industry. Frank Fuentes, chairman of the association, said that in the 2009 fiscal year, 14 construction workers have died in Central Texas. According to research conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 24 percent of all fatalities in the construction industry are attributed to highway incidents.
Fuentes said this is a result of safety guidelines not being enforced adequately and citizens not respecting the speed limit within construction areas.
“I don’t think people in our culture really realize how dangerous it is to drive fast when construction is being done,” Fuentes said. “That’s why you have laws that say ‘slow down, people working.’ That’s why those laws exist.”
According to Fuentes, the construction industry is regarded as the second most dangerous industry in the U.S., after the mining industry. He said it is estimated that on average 3.3 individuals, 2.4 of whom are Hispanics, die every day.
Emily Timm, coordinator of the workplace justice program under the Workers Defense Project, said this is Austin’s fourth construction death in the past few weeks.
She said Texas has fallen short in terms of strong regulation and guidelines for safety.
“[The project believes] that Texas policy makers can do more to protect workers,” Timm said. “[Policy makers] can pass stronger laws and enforce the existing laws at the local level as well as the state level, so Texas can live up to its high standards.”
Occupational Safety and Health Administration spokesperson Elizabeth Todd said safety guidelines depend on individual construction projects and what is being constructed. She said the penalties for injuring a worker change according to the details of an incident.
Todd said a willful violation can have a maximum penalty of $70,000. A serious penalty can be $7,000.
Research gathered by the association reports that Hispanic workers account for 55 percent of the construction workforce in Texas. Fuentes said research gathered by The Bureau of Labor Statistics states foreign-born Hispanics account for 76 percent of all Hispanic construction workers and account for 66 percent of federal injuries.
Despite these numbers, OSHA has not adequately provided safety guidelines in Spanish, Fuentes said, even after former President Bush passed legislation in his first term that required building codes to be translated.
To help workers non-English speakers, the association provides 10-hour OSHA training from certified trainers supported by the Texas A&M system. The association also provides equipment safety, business training, conference rooms and blueprint plotters.
Fuentes said the goal of the association is to educate construction workers in their native language.
“In the past three years, we have trained over 5000 individuals,” Fuentes said. “And we have trained them in Spanish and we have trained them for free. We don’t charge because we believe the value of lives is greater than the value of money.”
