Region 9 News Release: 14-1527-SAN (SF-59)
Aug. 12, 2014
Contact: Leo Kay Jose A. Carnevali
Phone: 415-625-2630 415-625-2631
Email: Kay.Leo.F@dol.gov carnevali.jose@dol.gov

OSHA establishes alliance with Consulate General of Honduras
to raise awareness of worker rights in the western US, Idaho and Alaska

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration signed an alliance on Aug. 1 with the Consulate General of Honduras in California to provide vital workplace rights information to Honduran workers and their employers in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho.

"This alliance provides us with a tremendous opportunity to provide a large and varied community of vulnerable workers with information that will enhance the quality of their workplaces and work lives," said Ken Atha, OSHA's regional administrator in San Francisco.

Through the alliance, OSHA and the consulate will deliver information promoting workers' understanding of their rights in the workplace and responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. OSHA and the consulate will communicate this information to employers, and both have agreed to speak and appear at each other's outreach events.

Barbara Goto, deputy regional administrator, represented OSHA at the signing, where she was joined by Hector Manuel Monroy Chavarria, the Consul General of Honduras in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Honduran immigration to the United States nearly tripled between 2000 and 2010. Overall, Hispanics made up 48.3 percent of the foreign-born labor force in 2012.

Through its Alliance Program, OSHA works with unions, consulates, trade and professional organizations, faith- and community based organizations, businesses and educational institutions to prevent workplace fatalities, injuries and illnesses. The alliance seeks to develop compliance assistance tools and resources and educate workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities. Alliance Program participants do not receive exemptions from OSHA programmed inspections. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/alliances/index.html.

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