‘Workers end up paying the price’: laborers call for safer building sites

W ooden planks with nails covered the site where Antonio, a construction day laborer in Houston, Texas, was helping clear fencing last December. The contractor that hired him provided no protection, he said – so when he slipped, and a nail struck him just above the ankle, it became “really swollen”.

Antonio was given hydrogen peroxide, and the contractor promised to get him medical attention the next day. But after developing a fever overnight, and with his ankle still swollen, he took himself to the emergency room.

Upon arrival, he was told if he had waited much longer, doctors might have needed to amputate his leg below the knee. “I spent about 16 days in the hospital,” Antonio, who requested to omit his last name for fear of retaliation, said.

After two weeks, the contractor – which had not picked up the phone the day after his accident – got in touch. They wanted to know “if I was ready to work”, Antonio said.

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