 Centro Laboral de Graton Links Health & Safety to Job Skills TrainingBy Cathy Curtis For more than 70 years, the unincorporated west Sonoma County town of Graton has been a hub for day laborers seeking temporary jobs in industries such as agriculture, construction and landscaping. But few of them congregate on street corners anymore. Signs direct employers to a green trailer on a neatly landscaped site two blocks from downtown, where workers are likely to be taking an occupational safety class or playing a pickup game of volleyball.  This is the home of Centro Laboral de Graton (Graton Labor Center), a community-based organization that helps day laborers find work. A three-year, $140,000 core operating support grant from TCWF in September 2009 enables Centro to offer workers preventive health education, occupational health and safety training, and health referral services. Founded in 2001, Centro initially focused on providing English lessons and developing a more organized hiring process. “Then we started noticing that people were injured on the job and didn’t get help,” said Susan Shaw, board co-chair. “There was a huge host of problems, both health- and work-related.” Occupational hazards were aggravated by cultural differences. Poison oak, for example, is mostly unknown in the workers’ native regions of Mexico and Central America. Unfamiliarity with the proper use of a lawnmower led one day laborer to lose parts of several fingers. Many workers also had serious health issues, including diabetes, sexually transmitted diseases and alcoholism.
Eventually, Centro’s board started connecting with the Sonoma County Public Health Department and local health agencies for health education resources, medical care and health screening. Linking worker health and safety to job skills training has proved a winning combination, Shaw said. And so has community participation. The weekly classes have included a physical therapist demonstrating ergonomics and a prominent garden designer training workers in rose pruning. Day laborers, who participate at every level of the organization including board membership, have shared their own tool safety knowledge.  Among the services day laborers receive at Centro Laboral de Graton are health screenings, health education resources and occupational safety classes, such as this one on proper usage of power tools.
Workers trained as Centro health promoters discuss occupational safety topics – ranging from respiratory protection from dust and fumes to the safe use of ladders and carpentry tools – as well as key health issues. Earl Lui, TCWF program director, noted that preventive health education is especially important for day laborers. “Because these workers don’t have health insurance and access to workers’ comp coverage if they are hurt on a job, Centro’s education efforts are essential for keeping workers healthy and safe.” Carlos Lopez, health programs coordinator at Centro, also credits the importance of communication at meetings, trainings and assemblies, which are held twice a week. “We listen to people,” Lopez said. “Any little problem that arises, we pay attention.” Mario Solano, a Centro health promoter, agrees. “We say, ‘If anyone would like to talk about a health topic you’re concerned about, you can tell us privately.’ Then we hold a meeting about it. When you teach something and people change their habits, you feel really good.” For more information, visit www.gratondaylabor.org |