Hispanic worker die at higher rate

ATLANTA, June 6 (UPI) -- Hispanic workers in the United States, mostly those born in Mexico, die at a 25 percent higher rate than other U.S. workers, government health officials said.

Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that in 2006, an estimated 19.6 million workers in the United States were Hispanic and 56 percent of them were foreign born, mostly Mexican-born. The CDC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and certain state agencies analyzed worker death data from 1992 to 2006 and found during that period a total of 11,303 Hispanic workers died from work-related injuries.

The death rate for Hispanic workers decreased during this period. However, the rate was consistently higher than the rate for all U.S. workers, and the proportion of deaths among foreign-born Hispanic workers increased over time, the CDC Morbidity and Mortality report said.

From 2003 to 2006, the most common industries employing Hispanics who died from work-related injuries were construction at 34 percent; administrative and waste services, 11 percent; agriculture/forestry/fishing/hunting 10 percent; transportation/warehousing, 10 percent.