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PubMedDate not supplied

Do blue-collar workers perceive the worksite health climate differently than white-collar workers?

A mail survey was distributed to a random sample of 497 both blue- and white-collar workers employed at a large manufacturing company to measure dimensions of worksite health climate: organizational and interpersonal support, and health norms. Statistically significant differences were observed for nearly all aspects of the dimensions with white-collar workers having more positive perceptions than blue-collar workers. The study suggests that future research explore how these perceptions may be enhanced and what role they may play in promoting worker health.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

The healthy worker effect. Selection of workers and work forces.

The favorable health status of employed populations in comparison to that of the general population is often called the "healthy worker effect," and most researchers feel that it results from the selection of healthy individuals during the hiring process. However, other mechanisms may also contribute to the healthy worker effect. In particular, the healthy worker effect may reflect the selection, for epidemiologic study, of relatively advantaged workforces in terms of socioeconomic status and health. Evidence of differential health by socioeconomic status within the workforce is reviewed, and its possible role in the healthy worker effect is discussed.

Employment↗
PubMed1991

Individual growth need strength as a moderator of the relationship of worker satisfaction and job attitudes to worker productivity.

The experimental research showed that the worker satisfaction-productivity and the worker job attitudes-productivity relationships were stronger for the individuals who had exhibited a higher growth need strength (GNS) than the subjects with a lower GNS in a repetitive production task enriched by the provision of production standards and feedback. Under high GNS, the correlation coefficient values between worker satisfaction and productivity in terms of quantity output were found to be statistically significant, whereas none of the values were significant under low GNS. The correlation coefficient values between worker job attitudes and productivity in terms of both quantity and quality output were significant under high GNS, whereas under low GNS none of the values were significant.

Attitude↗
PubMed1993

Factors associated with male workers' engagement in physical activity: white collar vs. blue collar workers.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with male workers' participation in different kinds of physical activity, noting differences between white collar and blue collar workers. This study examined the variables, perceived health status, self efficacy, perceived barriers, age, education, income, and job category (Pender, 1987) for their association with physical activity. Self efficacy and perceived health status were the cognitive-perceptual factors that predicted physical activity. Job category (e.g., blue collar vs. white collar) was found to be a highly significant predictor of physical activity. Comparing physical job requirements with the individual worker capacity can suggest to the occupational health nurse physical fitness programs that are most appropriate for individual workers.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Do workers' compensation laws protect industrial hygienists from lawsuits by injured workers?

Workers' compensation laws provide injured employees with a swifter, more certain, and less litigious system of compensation than existed under the common law. Although workers' compensation is almost always an injured employee's exclusive remedy against the employer, the employee may bring a common-law tort action against a "third party" who may be liable in whole or in part for the employee's injury. This article investigates whether industrial hygienists are "third parties" and therefore subject to suit by injured employees who claim that industrial hygienists negligently caused their injuries. The author concludes that in most states, where the industrial hygienist and the injured worker are fellow employees, the industrial hygienist shares the employer's immunity from suit. As to the consultant who performs industrial hygiene services as an independent contractor, the author concludes that the employer's nondelegable duty to provide a safe workplace offers industrial hygiene consultants an argument that they share the employer's immunity from suit. Countervailing arguments, however, leave the industrial hygiene consultant vulnerable to negligence claims in many jurisdictions. There is a trend among the states to extend the employer's immunity to those who provide safety and health services to the employer.

Consultants↗
PubMed1995

II. Do chronic pain patients' perceptions about their preinjury jobs differ as a function of worker compensation and non-worker compensation status?

OBJECTIVES: (1) To demonstrate a relationship between intent to return to preinjury job and preinjury job perceptions about that job; and (2) to demonstrate that worker compensation chronic pain patients (WC CPPs) would be more likely than non-worker compensation chronic pain patients (NWC CPPs) not to intend to return to a preinjury type of job because of preinjury job perceptions. STUDY DESIGN: The relationship between preinjury job perceptions and intent to return to the preinjury job was investigated and compared between worker compensation (WC) and nonworker compensation (NWC) chronic pain patients (CPPs). Within the WC and NWC groups CPPs not intending to return to their preinjury type of work were compared to those CPPs intending to return on preinjury job perception. BACKGROUND DATA: Compensation status, being a WC CPPs or being a non-WC CPPs, has been claimed to be predictive or not predictive of return to work post pain treatment. These studies have, however, ignored the preinjury job stress perception variable as an area of research. METHODS: WC CPPs were age- and sex-matched to NWC CPPs and statistically compared on their responses to rating scale and yes/no questionnaires for intent to return to work and perceived preinjury job stress. In a second analysis, both the WC and NWC groups were divided according to their intent to return to work and statistically compared on their responses to these questionnaires. RESULTS: Both male and female WC CPPs were less likely than their counterparts to intend to return to their preinjury job. Both WC and NWC were found to complain of preinjury job complaints, and these complaints were found to differ between WC and NWC CPPs. An association between intent not to return to work and the perceptions of preinjury job dissatisfaction and job dislike was found for male and female WC CPPs and for male and female NWC CPPs. CONCLUSIONS: There may be a relationship between some preinjury job perceptions and intent to return to the preinjury type of work in some groups of CPPs. However, a specific relationship between WC status, intent not to return to the preinjury type of work, and preinjury job perceptions in comparison to NWC CPPs could not be demonstrated.

Accidents, Occupational↗
PubMed1999

Injuries and illnesses among hospital workers in Ohio. A study of workers' compensation claims from 1993 to 1996.

Occupational illnesses and injuries are common problems facing workers and employers. The purpose of this study was to determine the nature and extent of illnesses and injuries among hospital workers in Ohio. All workers' compensation claims for 22 hospitals in Ohio during the period 1993-1996 were reviewed. The majority of the claims were for sprain and strain injuries. Most of the claims were approved. Back injury was the leading cause of injury in both genders, and females reported a significantly higher percentage of back injuries. The incidence rates for injuries and illnesses were lower than national rates for other industries. Generally, there was a downward trend in the number of claims during the study period. A negative linear trend in injury rates by hospital size was detected. Our findings suggest the need for safety programs, especially in smaller hospitals, with the goal of preventing sprain and strain injuries.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Employer satisfaction with workers' compensation health care: results of the Washington State Workers' Compensation Managed Care Pilot.

Developing more effective approaches to disability prevention has been a longstanding challenge for the workers' compensation system. A major obstacle to this goal has been the lack of communication and interaction between employers and physicians who care for injured workers. From 1995 through 1997, the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries sponsored a major demonstration program, known as the managed care pilot (MCP), to assess the effects of managed care on medical and disability costs, patient satisfaction and employer satisfaction. We developed a telephone survey and administered it to 243 employers as part of the MCP evaluation. Topics covered in this survey include satisfaction with treatment rendered, duration of lost work time, work modifications, and satisfaction with communication received during the employee's recovery period. Employers in the intervention (managed care) condition were more satisfied with the managed care/occupational medicine system than the employers in the comparison group were with the fee-for-service system. MCP employers were satisfied particularly with the frequency and quality of communication received from the health care provider regarding return to work and work modification issues. Improved employer-provider communication may foster early return to work and thereby have a beneficial effect on health and employment outcomes for injured workers.

Fee-for-Service Plans↗
PubMed2002

Antibody levels to hepatitis E virus in North Carolina swine workers, non-swine workers, swine, and murids.

In a cross-sectional serosurvey, eastern North Carolina swine workers (n = 165) were compared with non-swine workers (127) for the presence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus as measured by a quantitative immunoglobulin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Using a cutoff of 20 Walter Reed U/ml, swine-exposed subjects had a 4.5-fold higher antibody prevalence (10.9%) than unexposed subjects (2.4%). No evidence of past clinical hepatitis E or unexplained jaundice could be elicited. Swine (84) and mice (61), from farm sites in the same region as exposed subjects, were also tested. Antibody prevalence in swine (overall = 34.5%) varied widely (10.0-91.7%) according to site, but no antibody was detected in mice. Our data contribute to the accumulating evidence that hepatitis E may be a zoonosis and specifically to the concept of it as an occupational infection of livestock workers.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed1989

[Healthy worker effect on Japanese industry workers: a commentary from the viewpoint of industrial health management].

Healthy worker effect (HWE), which can be described as a lower death rate within a work force when compared to the general population, has been observed in many epidemiological mortality studies on industrial work populations free of significant life-shortening hazards. The purpose of this report is to evaluate this effect on the active work populations engaged in large scale manufacturing companies in Japan, and to appreciate the possible attributable factors to this phenomenon. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for workers in the member companies of The Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF) and The Japan Chemical Fibers and Textile Association (JCFTA), where mortality surveillance systems have been established. SMRs for all causes of death from 1969 to 1981 were within the range of 50 to 81 in JISF, and 34 to 41 in JCFTA. These results point to the existence of strong HWE, equal to or even lower than the reported values in some industrial populations in the United States. An evident HWE for cancer was also observed in the study populations, but it was reported to be of little significance, if at all, in the United States. HWE can be considered as a composite result of factors such as: (1) selection of healthier work force, (2) risk reduction due to life style modification during employment, and (3) methodological characteristics of the SMR, which are dependent on the percentage of active workers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Mushroom worker's lung. Detection of antibodies against Shii-take (Lentinus edodes) spore antigens in Shii-take workers.

Indoor cultivation of the edible mushroom Shii-take (Lentinus edodes) regularly leads to symptoms of mushroom worker's lung (MWL) in workers. An immunologic test is described allowing detection of IgG type antibodies against Shii-take spore antigens. It was found that MWL patients employed in Shii-take picking (n = 5) have significantly increased antibody titres against Shii-take spore antigens. Different control groups, viz, MWL patients employed in the cultivation of the white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus (n = 14) and of the oyster mushroom Pleurotus spp (n = 3), patients with Bechterew's syndrome (n = 7), sarcoidosis (n = 7), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 9), and healthy controls were found in the same range of low titres. The use of protective masks during picking reduced complaints of the workers (n = 14). However, their antibody titres increased with duration of employment despite the protection.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed2004

Garment workers in California: health outcomes of the Asian Immigrant Women Workers Clinic.

In this cross sectional descriptive study, the demographics, risk factors, and health outcomes of a volunteer, symptomatic sample of monolingual Cantonese garment workers in the Oakland, California Chinatown area are documented. Methods included a questionnaire and clinical examination and treatment at the Asian Immigrant Women Workers Clinic, a free clinic providing culturally focused occupational health consultation and treatment for painful musculoskeletal disorders. Because garment work involves highly repetitious, sustained awkward postures, focused education on stretching and ergonomics also was provided. Results from the first 100 clients revealed a highly symptomatic sample, with an average age of 48.7 years. Sixty-six percent rated their health status as fair or poor. Sixteen percent of the sample had nerve entrapments, and 99% had a diagnosed strain or sprain of the spine or upper extremities. This population did not file workers' compensation claims because of a lack of knowledge and a fear of reprisal. This study documented the barriers to seeking care for this low wage, immigrant population.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health insurance and workers' compensation: the delivery of medical and rehabilitation services for construction workers.

The construction industry has one of the highest proportions of workers without health insurance. The authors review the two types of insurance systems that are generally used to cover the cost of health care for construction workers in the U.S.: health and welfare funds and workers' compensation. Recent developments in health care delivery in the U.S. are discussed, as are the more comprehensive occupational medicine services offered in France, Germany, The Netherlands, and Sweden.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1998

Worker sensitivity and reactivity: indicators of worker susceptibility to nasal irritation.

This study examines the determinants of susceptibility to the irritant effects of sodium borate in 18 responsive workers identified through repeated self-reports of nasal irritation. For each worker, susceptibility was characterized by two features; reactivity and sensitivity, as estimated from the slope and intercept parameters from their individual exposure-response regression model. Individual estimates of reactivity and sensitivity were then examined to evaluate the importance of personal and environmental characteristics in determining susceptibility. The use of nasal sprays, current smoking and allergies were associated with lower reactivity, while high exposures to borate dust were associated with higher sensitivity. To examine possible biologic mechanisms for the irritant response, a toxicokinetic dose model was used to calculate nasal osmolarity during symptom intervals. The estimated levels suggest that osmolar activation of mast cells to release histamine and other mediators is a plausible mechanism by which these workers may experience nasal irritation.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Comparison of neurobehavioral function in workers exposed to a mixture of organic and inorganic lead and in workers exposed to solvents.

The neurobehavioral effects of lead (organic and inorganic) and organic solvents were compared in 386 U.S. workers (52 reference, 190 lead, and 144 solvent workers). The association between neurobehavioral test performance and duration of exposure to lead or solvents was also examined and compared. The neurobehavioral test battery consisted of examiner and computer-administered neurobehavioral tests, a test of olfactory function, and questionnaires that assessed neuropsychiatric symptoms. Adjusted mean differences on the neurobehavioral test scores were estimated by comparing the exposed group to the referent group using linear regression and adjusting for premorbid intellectual ability, age, and race. Both lead and solvents were associated with diminished neurobehavioral performance in all neurobehavioral areas tested. Specifically, while lead and solvent exposure had the same magnitude of adverse effects on tests of manual dexterity, lead exposure was associated with greater adverse effects on memory and learning tests but with less adverse effects on executive/motor tests and on a test of olfaction than solvent exposure. An elevated number of neuropsychiatric symptoms was reported by 7% of the referent group, 43% of the lead group, and 15% of the solvent group. For exposure duration of < or = 10 years, more neurobehavioral decrements were found in the solvent group relative to the lead group. However, for exposure duration of > or = 18 years, the lead group showed more decrements than the solvent group. Overall, these data suggest differences in neurobehavioral functioning between the lead (organic and inorganic) and solvent exposed workers examined in this study.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Back pain among workers in the United States: national estimates and workers at high risk.

Back pain accounts for about one fourth of workers' compensation claims in the United States. The Occupational Health Supplement to the 1988 National Health Interview Survey provided an opportunity to assess the scope of this problem. The 30,074 respondents who worked in the 12 months before the interview were defined as "workers", and those with back pain every day for a week or more during that period were defined as "cases." A weighting factor was applied to the answers to derive national estimates. In 1988, about 22.4 million back pain cases (prevalence 17.6%) were responsible for 149.1 million lost workdays; 65% of cases were attributable to occupational activities. For back pain attributed to activities at work, the risk was highest for construction laborers among males (prevalence 22.6%) and nursing aides among females (18.8%). Our analyses show that back pain is a major cause of morbidity and lost production for U.S. workers and identifies previously unrecognized high risk occupations, such as carpenters, automobile mechanics, maids, janitors, and hairdressers, for future research and prevention.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Biological monitoring of workers exposed to N-N-dimethylformamide. II. Dimethylformamide and its metabolites in urine of exposed workers.

N,N-Dimethylformamide (DMF) exposure was monitored in a synthetic leather factory; at the same time, urinary dimethylformamide and its metabolites were measured in urine samples collected before and at the end of workshifts. The study was run during two different periods. During the first phase ten workers were observed for 3 days (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) in the same week. In the second phase 16 workers were involved in the study on a Friday and on the following Monday. Urinary DMF, as well as hydroxymethyl-N-methylformamide and hydroxymethylformamide [measured as N-methylformamide (NMF) and formamide, respectively], were measured as a "physiological" product in subjects not exposed to dimethylformamide. Environmental exposure to DMF ranged between 10 and 25 mg/m3. The unmodified solvent found in urine collected at the end of the exposure was significantly related to the environmental concentrations of DMF; its urinary concentrations were found to range between 0.1 and 1 mg/l. Higher concentrations of NMF (mean 23.3 mg/l) and formamide (24.7 mg/l) were measured in urine samples collected at the end of workshifts. The same concentrations were related to individual exposures to DMF. N-Acetyl-S-(N-methylcarbamoyl)cysteine in the urine of workers exposed to DMF showed a mean concentration of 40.4 mg/l on Friday (before and after the workshift) and a mean concentration of 10.3 mg/l on Monday. Its slow kinetic profile favours its body accumulation during the working week.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetylcysteine↗
PubMed2004

Trafficked female sex workers awaiting deportation: comparison with brothel workers.

In 2002, we researched the psychosocial characteristics of 55 women working in the commercial brothel-based sex industry in three Israeli cities. This previous social epidemiological study focused exclusively on women working in brothels and the brothel owners consented to their interviews, suggesting that this might be a sample of the most organized brothels with the best social conditions. We therefore decided to study a second sample obtained by different referral methods. The sample consisted of 49 women in a detention center who are awaiting judicial hearings for deportation. This prison sample of sex workers is strikingly similar to the previously studied sample of sex workers working in brothels in terms of demographic features and working conditions. A higher percentage of the prison sample reported depression and somatic symptoms. However, this finding is consistent with a reaction to being arrested and awaiting deportation. Guided by a life course perspective, in the combined sample, we examined whether early exposure to trauma, motherhood and early entry into sex work affected current health and mental health. Those who were mothers were likely to have entered sex work at a later age but no other aspect of their working conditions differed from the non-mothers suggesting that motherhood per se did not appreciably change the experience of these mostly trafficked women sex workers. Early exposure to trauma increased the likelihood for work-related trauma, poor health and mental health outcomes.

Adolescent↗