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Biomedical subjects

Charles Levenstein

Publications and source records attributed to Charles Levenstein.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed2003

Worksite tobacco control policies and labor-management cooperation and conflict in New York State.

This article summarizes the origins and implementation of labor-management negotiated tobacco control policies in public workplaces in New York State during the 1980s and 1990s. It is an in-depth case study that illustrates the confrontation and cooperation among three main social actors involved in the design and implementation of workplace smoking policies: public-sector labor unions, public health professionals, and state managers. The policy debates, legal, and political issues that emerge from this history suggest hopeful avenues for improving the dialogue and cooperation on the design and implementation of workplace smoking policies between and among public health professionals, managers, and labor union leaders in the United States. Understanding how these parties can reach agreement and work together may help tobacco control advocates and labor leaders join forces to enact future tobacco control policies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

What do regions want?: A case study of university-community relations.

We hear more and more about the necessity of "sustainable regional development" as an alternative to and defense against globalization. While we certainly agree with this notion, we ask what might prevent it from becoming yet another "top-down" development scheme with good intentions but dubious results. We would argue that no road to development is sustainable if it is not deeply democratic and reliant on an informed, concerned public; the expressed needs of the public must be an essential aspect of regional development. Our focus here is on the university, the main supplier of the experts and technologies utilized by the undemocratic processes of globalization, but it might also be a partner in a democratic process of regional sustainable development. To do this, however, experts in academia must resist the temptation to assume they know what is best and work in concert with community forces to define and create sustainable development. To put it simply, if experts and planners in the university want to know what a region wants and needs, they have to ask. What follows is a report on the experience of one university's attempt to do just that.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Occupational injury and illness surveillance: conceptual filters explain underreporting.

Occupational health surveillance data are key to effective intervention. However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics survey significantly underestimates the incidence of work-related injuries and illnesses. Researchers supplement these statistics with data from other systems not designed for surveillance. The authors apply the filter model of Webb et al. to underreporting by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers' compensation wage-replacement documents, physician reporting systems, and medical records of treatment charged to workers' compensation. Mechanisms are described for the loss of cases at successive steps of documentation. Empirical findings indicate that workers repeatedly risk adverse consequences for attempting to complete these steps, while systems for ensuring their completion are weak or absent.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed2002

Work and health in the global economy: lessons from developing and industrialized countries on the impact of work on health.

Occupational and environmental health are dependent on the decisions made about the production of goods and services: the quality of our lives in the community and workplace and our well-being as workers, residents, and citizens are profoundly influenced by the technology employed in producing "our way of life." We seek to understand the system of decision making about the use of humans and the natural environment in production; we want to know who is sitting at the table where decisions are taken and what drives their decisions; and we want to know how ordinary people can take their appropriate place at the table, so that they can protect their health and well-being. The global economy is not what it seems: a mythology has been created about globalization in which the marketplace is the only reality and nations and national identity--human agency--play only a minor role.

Journal Article↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The occupational health of Southeast Asians in Lowell: a descriptive study.

To assess the occupational health of a group of vulnerable workers, Southeast Asians, in Lowell, Massachusetts, researchers surveyed 160 residents of Cambodian or Lao ethnicity regarding working conditions, health problems, and use of medical services. Over 40% reported work in electronics and computer assembly. A fourth of those currently employed held temporary jobs. Workplace hazards included soldering fumes; inadequate ventilation; prolonged sitting or standing; awkward postures; unguarded machinery; shift work; long hours; and pressure to produce quickly. Common work-related health problems included sprains and strains, headache, dizziness, and flu-like symptoms. Less than a third of the respondents knew about workers' compensation. Household surveys can provide otherwise unavailable occupational health data for defined populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

FIOH-sponsored newsletter misrepresents asbestos hazards in Zimbabwe.

The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) has received support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Office (ILO) to publish the African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety. The African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety should not be a medium for industry propaganda, or the source of misinformation among the workers of Africa. Instead, FIOH should provide the same level of scientific information in Africa that it does in Finland and other developed countries.

Asbestos↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Robbers on board: exposure to violence, insecurity, and other health hazards among mass transportation workers and passengers in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil].

This paper examines the impact of violent crime on working conditions, health, and security for bus drivers and ticket takers in the mass transportation system in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The research included 195 interviews with workers, labor union officials, passengers, management, and police. In the last ten years there have been 20,572 robberies in a fleet of 2,400 buses operated by 10,151 workers, with 67 deaths and more than US$500,000 in company losses. Perpetrators are typically poor, unemployed youths, the majority of whom first offenders, seeking easy money primarily for leisure pursuits. The average "take" from such robberies is minimal. The authors observed a pattern of bus robberies as a psychological power game which, for bus workers, apart from physical injuries and fatalities, generates fear, identity conflicts, tense relations with passengers, and labor conflicts involving the recovery of stolen fares and worker and passenger security issues. The article also outlines and evaluates the efficiency of security measures including the use of lethal force by police.

Brazil↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ethical issues in worker productivity.

Occupational health has always operated at the intersection of corporate economic concerns and worker health. Conflicting demands on the loyalty of occupational health professionals by the interests of labor and industry have made negotiating this minefield an essential part of the practice of occupational medicine. In recent years, occupational health professionals have found themselves increasingly required to rationalize worker health measures with economic arguments. This has led to physician engagement in the realm of defining and measuring worker productivity. Ethical guidelines that hold worker health as a top priority are critical in preserving the responsibility of occupational physicians to their patients.

Codes of Ethics↗