The tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge once again puts the world’s focus on Baltimore’s large immigrant population from Latin America, often employed in the hardest jobs, like those performed by the workers missing in this accident.
However, it is no coincidence that the victims of the Baltimore bridge collapse are from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. For many, this illustrates the dangers faced by Hispanic workers in the construction industry, where they typically earn higher wages in exchange for the risks they face.
According to official information, eight construction workers were repairing potholes on the Francis Scott Key Bridge early Tuesday morning when a massive cargo ship experiencing technical problems after losing power accidentally crashed into the bridge, causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River.
Only two workers who survived were rescued from the water; the rest were declared dead.
According to official records, in Maryland, where the accident occurred, the 2020 census showed that Latinos now make up 12 percent of the population, totaling around 744,000 residents.
In fact, what draws people to Baltimore is the availability of jobs in the construction industry. Fells Point, a port neighborhood known for its trendy pubs and taverns, is also an area where many day laborers can be seen sitting on sidewalks waiting for work.
People from Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico come to the city, preferring Baltimore over Washington, Virginia, or New Jersey because the Hispanic community is still emerging, so there are many opportunities.
While Baltimore is a major hub for vehicles, containers, and commodities, it also ranks first among U.S. ports for cars and light trucks, in addition to the construction industry.
However, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers construction an “industry of high risk”, where workers are exposed to serious hazards, such as falls from roofs, being struck by heavy construction equipment, and being injured or killed by unprotected machinery.
Despite this context, Latinos are more exposed to these dangers, as they make up roughly one-third of the country’s construction workforce.
According to reports from the Department of Labor, Latinos are a significant part of the workforce in this sector, with an estimated 27% of all Latinos in the U.S. working in construction.
With 1,056 deaths, workers in the construction and extraction industries had the second-highest number of fatalities in 2022, followed by workers in transportation and material moving, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics published in December. At least 423 of these workers died from falls, slips, or trips.
Most of these deaths—at least 286—occurred among Hispanic workers.
The fatality rate for workers in construction and extraction rose from 12.3 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers in 2021 to 13.0 a year later.
A total of 316 foreign-born Hispanic construction workers died from work-related injuries in 2022.
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