title: Working conditions and health in Central America: a survey of 12,024 workers in six countries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the survey methodology and initial general findings of the first Central American Survey of Working Conditions and Health.
  
  
  METHODS
  A representative sample of 12,024 workers was interviewed at home in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Questionnaire items addressed worker demographics, employment conditions, occupational risk factors and self-perceived health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, self-employment (37%) is the most frequent type of employment, 8% of employees lack a work contract and 74% of the workforce is not covered by social security. These percentages are higher in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, and lower in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. A third of the workforce works more than 48 h per week, regardless of gender; this is similar across countries. Women and men report frequent or usual exposures to high ambient temperature (16% and 25%, respectively), dangerous tools and machinery (10%, 24%), work on slippery surfaces (10%, 23%), breathing chemicals (12.1%, 18%), handling toxic substances (5%, 12.1%), heavy loads (6%, 20%) and repetitive movements (43%, 49%). Two-thirds of the workforce perceive their health as being good or very good, and slightly more than half reports having good mental health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The survey offers, for the first time, comparable data on the work and health status of workers in the formal and informal economy in the six Spanish-speaking Central American countries, based on representative national samples. This provides a benchmark for future monitoring of employment and working conditions across countries.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Salud Laboral (CISAL), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain IMIM Parc Salut Mar., Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Benavides
authors.affiliation: Programa Salud, Trabajo y Ambiente en América Central (SALTRA), Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances, Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Catharina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wesseling
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas School of Public Health (UT), Houston, USA Centro de Investigación en Salud Laboral (CISAL), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health, Spain IMIM Parc Salut Mar., Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: George L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Delclos
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas School of Public Health (UT), Houston, USA National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Atlanta, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Felknor
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Seguridad e Higiene en el Trabajo (INSHT). Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pinilla
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Salud Laboral (CISAL), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Instituto Sindical Trabajo, Ambiente y Salud (ISTAS), CCOO, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodrigo
mesh_terms: D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000328:Adult; D002489:Central America; D032982:Contracts; D012090:Cumulative Trauma Disorders; D003625:Data Collection; D003906:Developing Countries; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D015386:Hazardous Substances; D006262:Health; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D012943:Social Security; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013499:Surface Properties; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances