Trucker English Proficiency Seen as Safety Issue

A report published last week on social media by American Truckers United shows that Texas companies lead the nation in employing drivers who are not proficient in reading and understanding English.
Recent crashes, including a multi-fatality crash in the state’s capital city earlier this year, raised the issue to the forefront, Breitbart reported.
“The trucking industry in Texas is prioritizing cheap labor by favoring non-citizens over American citizens, compromising safety nationwide,” American Truckers United Spokesman Shannon Everett told Breitbart Texas on Monday. “What starts as a Texas issue becomes a national crisis when drivers from these companies—failing English proficiency standards—are exported across America, demanding urgent intervention.”
The outlet reported that President Donald Trump would soon sign an executive order ensuring that truckers would be adept at speaking English.
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Our sister publication Cal-OSHA Reporter writes that two things became clear during last week’s joint legislative hearing in the wake of a state audit questioning Cal/OSHA’s performance: Lawmakers don’t see the agency’s problems as purely a function of personnel shortages, but also as one of leadership. They fully intend to keep it in their crosshairs.
The hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit, Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, and Assembly Labor and Employment (L&E) committees followed up on the July report by State Auditor Grant Parks. L&E Chair Liz Ortega (D-Hayward) called for the audit after hearing workplace safety complaints from farmworkers.
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A business neighbor of an Oregon homeless encampment has filed an employment complaint to the Oregon Occupational and Safety and Health Division, concerning the cleanup of a homeless encampment by Seaside city workers.
The complaint alleges that in the aftermath of the relocation of the encampment, the city did not provide public works crews with the necessary protective equipment, including poke-resistant gloves, grabbers and face shields, when exposed to vermin and “buckets of excrement (feces) and needles.”
The complaint also claimed that the city did not ensure proper training to the crew.
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A new mental health survey of workers in the Nova Scotia construction industry shows that more than 36% of the frontline workforce is experiencing elevated or very high levels of stress that is significantly affecting their productivity, safety and employee turnover on building sites.
Of those construction workers employed in high-stress environments, the survey found that up to 60% are more likely to be involved in workplace incidents.
40% of the surveyed workers indicated they were considering leaving the industry due to stress-related concerns.
The report was commissioned by Construction Safety Nova Scotia (CSNS) and the findings are based on responses from more than 1,170 workers from across the province’s construction sector.
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In her recent swing through New England, U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer focused on agency support for maritime and public safety skills training programs.
She met with lobster and fishing industry professional, addressing safety issues, and toured the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which is a beneficiary of President Trump’s Executive Order on Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance.
She also made a stop at Axon Enterprise’s Boston location, where she observed a TASER live-fire demonstration and learned more about the company’s efforts to integrate advanced technology into policing and public safety.
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