IN THE FIELD By Monique Lewis
Language is PPE When Assumed Understanding Comes at a Cost
A
s steel is lifted into place hundreds of feet above the ground, crews walk on beams no wider than a boot. Something shifts unexpectedly and a worker loses his balance. It is a near miss that commands attention. Work pauses, supervisors gather, and the questions begin. What happened? The initial explanation is simple: it moved. It sounds plausible. Steel moves. Loads shift. Momentum happens. The statement fits neatly into what everyone already understands about the job, and the case is almost closed. But something does not sit right. When the same worker, a native Spanish speaker, describes the moment in Spanish, new critical information comes into view. The beam did not simply move. A gust caught it. Monique Lewis is the Founder and CEO of Next 2 Native Language Learning and a language risk strategist for high-risk industries. She works with construction leaders to identify and reduce communication exposure between frontline crews and supervision, strengthening safety outcomes and operational clarity on multilingual job sites.
22 | THE STEEL ERECTORS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA