Industry Leaders Address Language Justice
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) recent webinar, “Promoting Environmental and Occupational and Public Health through Language Justice” focused on multilingual accessibility in communities and workplaces.
The American Bar Association defines language justice in part as the right “to be able to communicate, understand, and be understood in the language in which they prefer and feel most articulate and powerful.” While the ABA’s statement addresses language justice in legal services during COVID-19, its recommendations are ongoing beyond the pandemic, and remain relevant to multiple industries. The ABA recommends that community organizations and government entities utilize best practices in outreach to limited English proficient (LEP) communities, including written translations, trained bilingual staff, and interpreting services.
The webinar host, the NIEHS Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH), provided background and recommendations for increasing community engagement and supporting language access to environmental and occupational health information.
The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP) has adopted the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) policy titled “Ensuring Language Justice in Occupational Safety and Health Training“. The APHA policy emphasizes the relationship between language accessibility in workplace training and increased worker safety, productivity and morale. The policy also cites 2010 census data that correlates between LEP, foreign-born individuals and the population’s limited understanding of safety and health training when language access best practices aren’t utilized; this can increase the risk of injury and fatalities among LEP workers.
University Language Center remains committed to promoting and furthering language justice in our communities. Learn more about our language services.