Immigrant Workers at Risk: The Urgent Need for Improved Workplace Safety and Health Policies and Programs

[Excerpt] Foreign-born workers are likely to toil in high-risk occupations, work in the unregulated, “informal” economy and often fear reporting workplace injuries. Many are not aware of their legal rights to safety and health on the job and to workers’ compensation if they are injured. The AFL-CIO report, Immigrant Workers at Risk: The Urgent Need for Improved Workplace Safety and Health Policies and Programs, examines how these factors contribute to the alarming rates of injury and death on the job among immigrants and discusses the detrimental economic effects of such workplace injuries and death across society

Working Posture and Low Back Pain among Female Home Convection Workers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Low back pain (LBP) is a significant contributor to global musculoskeletal disorders, often associated with uncomfortable working postures prevalent among home convection workers. This study investigates the correlation between work posture and LBP incidence in 36 female home convection workers aged 20-55, selected through total sampling. This study employed an analytical observational design with a cross-sectional approach. Conducted from March 31 to June 17, 2023, in Sragen, the study utilized RULA with an ordinal scale for posture analysis and the Modified ODI questionnaire, also employing an ordinal scale for LBP measurement. Results revealed 52.78% with low-risk and 47.22% with high-risk postures. Most LBP cases were mild (35 individuals). Kendall’s tau correlation test showed no significant relationship between work posture and LBP incidence (p-value = 0.175, p 0.05). This research concluded that there was no significant relationship between work posture and the incidence of LBP among female home construction workers. However, no significant correlation was found; 47.22% faced a high risk of other musculoskeletal disorders, highlighting the need for immediate posture changes among these workers

Health Status and Occupational Health Hazards Among Home-based Garment Workers in Semarang, Indonesia

Occupational health and safety are important issues as technology develops and work principles shift. Home-based workers in the garment industrial sector are similar to other home-based workers who work without health protection, work safety, or social insurance. The assessment and management of working environmentalhazards are further challenges in worker management, especially for home-based workers. This study is aimed at assessing the health and safety status of home-based workers in the garment industrial sector in Semarang City and to suggest safety measures for workers. Assessments were conducted using the direct survey method.The survey results from 58 home-based workers in the garment industrial sector selected through purposive sampling show that they are exposed to physical factors such as heat stress and noise (58.62%), dust and chemicals (41.38%), and ergonomic hazards (100%). The health problems experienced included dizziness and headaches (51.72%), vision problems (34.48%), ringing ears (6.9%), cough and breathlessness (8.62%), tingling (63.78%), and muscle and bone pain (67.24%). The types of injuries that occurred were joint pain (75.9%), stiffness (53.4%), and muscle pain (15.5%). This study shows that home-based workers in the garment industrial sector exposed to dust and chemical hazards are 9.4 times more likely to suffer health problems than workers with no exposure to dust and chemical hazards. Keywords: Garment, garment industrial sector, home-based worker

An Assessment of Occupational Safety and Health Practices in Nepalese Garment Workers

The article aims to assess the occupational safety and health (OSH) practices in Nepalese garment industries, particularly for home-based garment workers. The study uses a qualitative and descriptive methodology, including secondary information sourced from books, papers, published articles, and online platforms. The findings show a lack of scientific studies on OSH in the Nepalese garment sector and an unsatisfactory overall status of OSH in Nepal. The study finds poor occupational safety and health practices in the garment business, with insufficient safety precautions and workers who are unaware of hazards and preventive measures. Workers in this industry have a variety of health problems, including musculoskeletal illnesses, which are more common in the sewing department. Musculoskeletal problems are connected with factors such as age, gender, and educational status. The study emphasizes the importance of quick and comprehensive measures by the government, businesses, and employees to improve occupational safety and health in this industry. The article also emphasizes the complicated nature of garment manufacturing units.How to cite this article: Rai, B., (2023). An Assessment of Occupational Safety and Health Practices in Nepalese Garment Workers. GS Spark: Journal of Applied Academic Discourse. 1(1), 27-34. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.837202

Precarious bodies: occupational risk assemblages in Bolivia and Trinidad

This article develops a concept of “precarious bodies” to theorise the lived experience of labour precariousness in the 21st century and its implications for workers’ health, wellbeing and household reproduction. Drawing on ethnographic research with Bolivian miners and Trinidadian garment workers, we explore the relationship between workers’ exposure to global market forces and their everyday experiences of work, health and risk in these industries. “Precarious bodies” is a heuristic that takes into a single frame the macro-level economic and regulatory processes that create risks for workers, and the various ways in which workers negotiate these risks through their work practices and livelihood choices. We show precarious bodies to be both vulnerable and strategic. Positioned in situations of exploitation and risk, their choices to protect their livelihoods can harm their health and reinforce—rather than counteract—the precarious circumstances of their households

Sweatshops in Chicago: A Survey of Working Conditions in Low-income and Immigrant Communities

This report is the first research documenting the extent and severity of sweatshop conditions in the Midwest and the first systematic effort in the nation to document sweatshops across industries. The research is a product of the Sweatshop Working Group, a coalition of 32 community organizations brought together by the Center for Impact Research (formerly Taylor Institute). Data was collected from approximately 800 respondents across 12 immigrant and low-income communities in the Chicago metropolitan area in the spring and summer of 1999

Review of the occupational health and safety of Britain’s ethnic minorities

This report sets out an evidence-based review on work-related health and safety issues relating to black and minority ethnic groups. Data included available statistical materials and a systematic review of published research and practice-based reports. UK South Asians are generally under-represented within the most hazardous occupational groups. They have lower accident rates overall, while Black Caribbean workers rates are similar to the general population; Bangladeshi and Chinese workers report lowest workplace injury rates UK South Asian people exhibit higher levels of limiting long-term illness (LLI) and self reported poor health than the general population while Black Africans and Chinese report lower levels. Ethnic minority workers with LLI are more likely than whites to withdraw from the workforce, or to experience lower wage rates. Some of these findings conflict with evidence of differentials from USA, Europe and Australasia, but there is a dearth of effective primary research or reliable monitoring data from UK sources. There remains a need to improve monitoring and data collection relating to black and ethnic minority populations and migrant workers. Suggestions are made relating to workshops on occupational health promotion programmes for ethnic minorities, and ethnic minority health and safety 'Beacon' sites

Labor unions: a public health institution.

Using a social-ecological framework, we drew on a targeted literature review and historical and contemporary cases from the US labor movement to illustrate how unions address physical and psychosocial conditions of work and the underlying inequalities and social determinants of health. We reviewed labor involvement in tobacco cessation, hypertension control, and asthma, limiting articles to those in English published in peer-reviewed public health or medical journals from 1970 to 2013. More rigorous research is needed on potential pathways from union membership to health outcomes and the facilitators of and barriers to union-public health collaboration. Despite occasional challenges, public health professionals should increase their efforts to engage with unions as critical partners

Occupational Health and Safety of Women Workers: Viewed in the Light of Labor Regulations

This article is an analytic and discursive review of data and studies about women workers in the manufacturing sector in the Philippines in the light of labor regulations. The analyses focus on the following: occupational health and safety, health and safety programs, provision of facilities at work, and labor issues pertaining to women workers. Policy and advocacy work implications are recommended based on the discursive analysis