For Immediate Release
Jan. 31st, 2025
Contacts:
Palmira Figueroa, pfigueroa@ndlon.org, (425) 301-2764

NDLON Helps 174 Workers Get Certified for Hazardous Cleanup Jobs

PASADENA, Jan. 31 – With the disastrous Palisades and Eaton fires now almost completely contained, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) is looking ahead – training immigrant workers to safely and effectively take on the specialized and hazardous work of cleanup and rebuilding.

NDLON’s Health and Safety Director, Debora Gonzalez, spent the last week of January  organizing and delivering training sessions for workers in NDLON’s Volunteer Fire Relief Brigades to be certified as “Disaster Site Workers” by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

“People with Disaster Site Worker (DSW) certification under OSHA are trained to understand the risks and dangers of cleanup in the disaster zone,” Gonzalez explained. “It is a different job from regular construction. When you enter an area or a building that has been damaged or destroyed by fire, you are in an environment full of contaminating chemicals. Ash and other toxic particles are in the air and soil and possibly everything you touch. The wreckage also poses the danger of trips and falls and other injuries.”

According to Gonzalez and OSHA, the main goal of the training program is to promote a culture of safety and skill among the often-unrecognized “second responders” who are so essential to disaster recovery. Workers learn to use full-face respirators and other advanced personal-protective equipment and to recognize and reduce fire-related hazards on the job site.

“Our goal was to train 160 to 170 workers as Disaster Site Workers, and we already have trained 174,” Gonzalez said. 

To mark the completion of the DSW training, our brigadistas will be honored in a graduation ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 10 a.m. at the Pasadena Community Job Center, 500 N. Lake Ave. Members of the media are invited, and everyone is welcome to view the ceremony live-streamed on Instagram.

January’s DSW trainings are part of NDLON’s long commitment to developing safety expertise and skills among immigrant workers. Over many years of outreach and sessions like these, NDLON has built a solid record. We believe we have the country’s largest Spanish-language OSHA-authorized training.

“We have the strongest program in the country,” said Nadia Marin-Molina, Co-Executive Director of NDLON. “Some unions may have larger programs, but they are not bilingual.  Some for-profit schools may have more trainers, but they charge a lot for the trainings.  OSHA 10 is 10 hours,  OSHA 30 is 30 hours. We do both.  Also construction and general-industry trainings in addition to disaster-site trainings.”

Meanwhile, NDLON’s Pasadena Community Job Center is now in its fourth week as a hub for disaster relief for residents of Pasadena and Altadena hit hard by the Eaton Fire. NDLON day laborers and other workers have been serving in Volunteer Fire Relief Brigades, clearing fire debris and fallen tree limbs, and delivering essential resources like food, water, medicine, PPE, and masks to those in need. The Brigades also provide training on fire safety, workers’ rights and health protection.

Many videos, photos, interviews and stories about our work in this disaster are available through NDLON’s Radio Jornalera and social media platforms. NDLON’s efforts are centered on mutual aid and solidarity, guided by the principle “Solo el Pueblo Salva al Pueblo” – only the people save the people.

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