# Engaging Families and Employers in Latino Construction Worker Injury Prevention

> **NIH ALLCDC R01** · OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY STILLWATER · 2020 · $494,805

## Abstract

Immigrant Latinos experience elevated rates of occupational fatality, injury and illness within the construction
industry, particularly within the small-scale residential construction industry. Safety initiatives in residential
construction focus on workers: the involvement of contractors and other sources of influence like family
members remains a critical oversight to long-term sustainability of safety initiatives. The overall goal of the
proposed research is to create capacity for sustained commitment to worker safety among small-scale
residential construction contractors employing Latino workers. The project goal will be achieved through a
community-based partnership of academic researchers, the Greater Tulsa Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
and a translational research project that will accomplish three specific aims: 1) document strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats of contractors in small-scale residential construction to enhancing fall
prevention initiatives with their workers; 2) describe beliefs held by family members about the risks Latino
construction workers encounter on the job, the modifiability of those risks, and the ability family members have
in minimizing those risks; 3) determine the added impact of a “Lay Health Advisor” (LHA), “employer-
enhanced” and “family-enhanced” intervention strategy in comparison to a control group that receives written
safety education alone. These aims will be accomplished through a mixed-method design focused on
Research-to-Practice (R2P). Aims 1 and 2 will be accomplished through the collection and analysis of
qualitative in-depth interview data with Latino contractors (Aim 1) and family members of Latino workers
(spouses most likely, Aim 2). Aim 3 will be accomplished through a community-based trial where N=40
contractor crews (consisting of 4-6 workers/crew) are the basis for randomization. Crews will be randomly
assigned to one of four conditions: treatment as usual (worker education by a Lay Health Advisor (LHA)),
employer-enhanced treatment (worker education by LHA combined with contractor/crew-leader safety
training), family-enhanced treatment (worker education by LHA combined with family safety training), and a
control group (written safety education alone). Determination of the added impact of the employer- and family-
enhanced strategies will focus on differences in pretest-posttest and follow-up changes in core safety
behaviors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9984886
- **Project number:** 5R01OH011338-02
- **Recipient organization:** OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY STILLWATER
- **Principal Investigator:** JOSEPH G. GRZYWACZ
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $494,805
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9984886

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9984886, Engaging Families and Employers in Latino Construction Worker Injury Prevention (5R01OH011338-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9984886. Licensed CC0.

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