(citizentimes) Hispanic workers die at higher rates than other laborers, with one in three of these deaths occurring in the construction industry, a government study reported Thursday. South Carolina had the highest death rate in the nation, and North Carolina was fifth. Hispanics tend to hold more high-risk jobs than those in other racial groups, but language and literacy barriers and poor training and supervision may also be factors, researchers said. The leading causes of death in recent years have been falls and highway-related accidents. “Many of the Hispanic workers in construction are undocumented, and many of those who are recently arrived do face a language barrier,” said Rakesh Kochhar, associated director for research at the Pew Hispanic Center. The study was done by health researchers in Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s being published this week in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. For 2003-06, 22.8 Hispanic workers per 100,000 in South Carolina died. The rate in North Carolina was 7.8 deaths per 100,000, which placed the state fifth among those reporting at least 30 Hispanic worker deaths. There were 97 work-related deaths of Hispanics in North Carolina during the period. The leading cause was falls, and 47 percent of the deaths had occurred in construction.

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