title: Occupational health and safety experiences among self-identified immigrant workers living or working in Somerville, MA by ethnicity, years in the US, and English proficiency.
abstract: In this community based research initiative, we employed a survey instrument predominately developed and administered by Teen Educators to assess occupational health risks for Haitian, Salvadoran, and Brazilian immigrants (n = 405) in Somerville, MA, USA. We demonstrate that a combined analysis of ethnicity, years in the US, and English proficiency better characterized the occupational experience of immigrant workers than considering these variables individually. While years in the US (negatively) and English proficiency (positively) explained the occurrence of health risks, the country of origin identified the most vulnerable populations in the community. Brazilians, Salvadorans, and other Hispanic, all of whom who have been in the US varying length of time, with varying proficiency in English language had twice the odds of reporting injuries due to work compared to other immigrants. Although this observation was not significant it indicates that years in the US and English proficiency alone do not predict health risks among this population. We recommend the initiation of larger studies employing c community based participatory research methods to confirm these differences and to further explore work and health issues of immigrant populations. This study is one of the small number of research efforts to utilize a contemporaneous assessment of occupational health problems in three distinct immigrant populations at the community level within a specific Environmental Justice context and social milieu.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA. bpanikkar@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Bindu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Panikkar
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Woodin
authors.forename: Doug
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Brugge
authors.forename: Anne Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Desmarais
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hyatt
authors.forename: Rose
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pirie
authors.forename: Marcy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldstein-Gelb
authors.forename: Heloisa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Galvão
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chianelli
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vasquez
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McWhinney
authors.forename: Franklin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dalembert
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gute
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001938:Brazil / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004544:El Salvador / Q000208:ethnology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D005006:Ethnicity; D006205:Haiti / Q000208:ethnology; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D016015:Logistic Models; D008404:Massachusetts; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors