Beyond Occupational Hazards: Abuse of Day Laborers and Health

With the increase in labor market flexibility and worksite immigration enforcement, day labor is a common type of informal employment arrangement among immigrants. Our study contextualized day laborers' physical and mental health within work- and community-level factors. We use a nationally representative sample of 2015 day laborers from the National Day Labor Survey. Multivariable logistic regression models estimated the association of occupational and socioenvironmental abuses with self-rated health (SRH), a positive PHQ-2 screening, morbidities, and workplace injuries. Employer abuse was associated with fair/poor SRH, workplace injuries, morbidity, and PHQ-2; business owner abuse was associated with PHQ-2 and workplace injuries; and crime and having a dangerous job are both associated with workplace injuries. Health disadvantages stem from unsafe occupational conditions and an overlapping array of adverse social experiences. These findings highlight the need to develop and evaluate policies that protect all workers regardless of socioeconomic position and immigration status.

Predicting the Influence of Situational and Immigration Stress on Latino Day Laborers' Workplace Injuries: An Exploratory Structural Equation Model

Latino day laborers are a socially and economically marginalized immigrant population with a high risk of occupational injury. These workers confront multiple social, psychological, and environmental hardships that increase their risk for adverse health outcomes. How these stressors interact and influence work-related injuries in this population remains unclear. We conducted an exploratory study with 327 Latino day laborers who completed a community survey. We developed a structural equation model, using cross-sectional data to explore the relationships among socioeconomic status, situational and immigration stress, depression, work risk exposure, and occupational injury. The model revealed a statistically significant mediated effect from situational stress to injury through work risk exposure as well as a significant mediated effect from immigration stress through depression to injury. These initial findings suggest that situational and immigration-related stress have a detrimental impact on Latino day laborers' mental health and workplace safety and, ultimately, increase their risk of occupational injury.

A Systematic Review of Community Health Workers' Role in Occupational Safety and Health Research

We systematically reviewed the literature to describe how community health workers (CHWs) are involved in occupational health and safety research and to identify areas for future research and research practice strategies. We searched five electronic databases from July 2015 through July 2016. Inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) study took place in the United States, (2) published as a full peer-review manuscript in English, (3) conducted occupational health and safety research, and (4) CHWs were involved in the research. The majority of 17 included studies took place in the agriculture industry (76%). CHWs were often involved in study implementation/design and research participant contact. Rationale for CHW involvement in research was due to local connections/acceptance, existing knowledge/skills, communication ability, and access to participants. Barriers to CHW involvement in research included competing demands on CHWs, recruitment and training difficulties, problems about research rigor and issues with proper data collection. Involving CHWs in occupational health and safety research has potential for improving inclusion of diverse, vulnerable and geographically isolated populations. Further research is needed to assess the challenges and opportunities of involving CHWs in this research and to develop evidence-based training strategies to teach CHWs to be lay-health researchers.

On-the-ground health and safety experiences of non-union casino hotel workers: A focus-group study stratified by four occupational groups

OBJECTIVES

To understand the health- and safety-related experiences of specific occupations among non-union casino hotel employees to identify processes leading to worker health and safety risks.

METHODS

Using purposive, criterion sampling, 61 workers participated in 13 recorded focus groups (FGs). A semi-structured topic guide addressed work-related health and safety impacts, workplace hazards, and management responses, among others. FG transcripts were analyzed following grounded theory methodology. Demographic and occupational health information was collected via survey.

RESULTS

Codes (97) were collapsed into seven themes: activities/exposures negatively affecting health/safety; barriers to health/safety; injury/pain occurrences; coping mechanisms; job vulnerability; management policies/enforcement; lack of management concern for employees. From these themes emerged the Dynamic Theoretical Framework of Employee Health and Safety Risk.

CONCLUSIONS

"Management's lack of concern" creates a negative environment whereby employer-controlled factors jeopardize employees' health and safety. Interventions targeting management's lack of concern for employee health and safety could favorably change work-based risks.

Exploring workplace TB interventions with foreign-born Latino workers

BACKGROUND

Persons born outside the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with tuberculosis disease (TB) than native-born individuals. Foreign-born Latinos at risk of TB may be difficult to reach with public health interventions due to cultural and institutional barriers. Workplaces employing large concentrations of foreign-born Latinos may be useful locations for TB interventions targeting this high-risk population.

METHOD

This study used a two-phase approach to investigate the feasibility of workplace TB interventions. The first phase investigated employer knowledge of TB and receptiveness to allowing TB interventions in their businesses through 5 structured interviews. The second phase investigated foreign-born workers' knowledge of TB and their receptiveness to receiving TB interventions in their places of employment through 12 focus groups stratified by gender and education.

RESULTS

Phase 1: Only 1 of the 5 employers interviewed had a high level of knowledge about TB, and three had no knowledge other than that TB was a disease that involved coughing. They were receptive to workplace TB interventions, but were concerned about lost productivity and customers finding out if an employee had TB. Phase 2: There was no observed differences in responses between gender and between the bottom two education groups, so the final analysis took place between a gender-combined lower education group and higher education group. The higher education group tended to have knowledge that was more accurate and to view TB as a disease associated with poverty. The lower education group tended to have more misconceptions about TB and more often expressed concern that their employers would not support worksite interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

The results from both phases indicate that more TB education is needed among both foreign-born Latino workers and their employers. Obstacles to implementing workplace TB interventions include knowledge, potential productivity loss, employer liability, and perceived customer response.