Exploring the Impacts of Safety Culture on Immigrants’ Vulnerability in Non-motorized Crashes: A Cross-sectional Study

Pedestrians and cyclists are a vulnerable group of road users. Immigrants are disproportionally represented in pedestrian and cyclist crashes. We postulate that the mismatch in safety culture between countries of their origin and the USA contribute to their vulnerability in pedestrian and cyclist crashes. Over time, the differences may disappear and immigrants’ traffic behavior gravitates toward those of native-borns. We describe this process as safety assimilation. Using the pedestrian and cyclist crash database in New York City between 2001 and 2003, we examined the effects of foreign-born population, their countries of origin, and time of entry into the USA on census tract-level pedestrian and cyclist crashes. We find that neighborhoods with a higher concentration of immigrants, especially those from Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia, have more crashes. Our results also exhibit a pattern of the hypothesized safety assimilation process. The study suggests a higher level of vulnerability of immigrants to pedestrian and cyclist crashes. We propose that targeted policies and programs need to be developed for immigrants of different countries of origin.     

The Influence of Risk Perception on Biosafety Level-2 Laboratory Workers’ Hand-To-Face Contact Behaviors

Pathogen transmission in the laboratory is thought to occur primarily through inhalation of infectious aerosols or by direct contact with mucous membranes on the face. While significant research has focused on controlling inhalation exposures, little has been written about hand contamination and subsequent hand-to-face contact (HFC) transmission. HFC may present a significant risk to workers in biosafety level-2 (BSL-2) laboratories where there is typically no barrier between the workers’ hands and face. The purpose of this study was to measure the frequency and location of HFC among BSL-2 workers, and to identify psychosocial factors that influence the behavior. Research workers (N = 93) from 21 BSL-2 laboratories consented to participate in the study. Two study personnel measured workers’ HFC behaviors by direct observation during activities related to cell culture maintenance, cell infection, virus harvesting, reagent and media preparation, and tissue processing. Following observations, a survey measuring 11 psychosocial predictors of HFC was administered to participants. Study personnel recorded 396 touches to the face over the course of the study (mean = 2.6 HFCs/hr). Of the 93 subjects, 67 (72%) touched their face at least once, ranging from 0.2–16.0 HFCs/hr. Among those who touched their face, contact with the nose was most common (44.9%), followed by contact with the forehead (36.9%), cheek/chin (12.5%), mouth (4.0%), and eye (1.7%). HFC rates were significantly different across laboratories F(20, 72) = 1.85, p = 0.03. Perceived severity of infection predicted lower rates of HFC (p = 0.03). For every one-point increase in the severity scale, workers had 0.41 fewer HFCs/hr (r = ?.27, P < 0.05). This study suggests HFC is common among BSL-2 laboratory workers, but largely overlooked as a major route of exposure. Workers’ risk perceptions had a modest impact on their HFC behaviors, but other factors not considered in this study, including social modeling and work intensity, may play a stronger role in predicting the behavior. Mucous membrane protection should be considered as part of the BSL-2 PPE ensemble to prevent HFC.     

Framing the Care of Injured Workers: An Empirical Four-Jurisdictional Comparison of Workers’ Compensation Boards’ Healthcare Policies

Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation - Purpose: The objective of this study was to explore how workers’ compensation policies related to healthcare provision for workers with...     

Living Conditions,Access to Healthcare Services,and Occupational Health and Safety Conditions of Migrant Seasonal Agricultural Workers in the Çukurova Region

Objective: Migrant seasonal agricultural workers who are employed in one of the most hazardous occupations in Turkey experience difficulties in accessing health-care services. The aim of this study is to investigate the living conditions, access to health-care services, and occupational health and safety conditions of migrant seasonal agricultural workers in the Çukurova region.

Methods: Four hundred migrant seasonal agricultural workers were contacted in the county of Karata? located in the province of Adana, Turkey. A four-section questionnaire was administered using face-to-face interview techniques.

Results: The mean age of the participants was 32.8 ± 12.4 years. One-fourth of the participants did not have any social security coverage. Almost all had a monthly income below minimum wage, and 98% were living in tents. One-fifth experienced health problems in the last year, and 63% of them visited a health-care facility for diagnosis and treatment. About 3.3% of the participants sustained injuries at work, and only 23% of them visited a health-care facility.

Conclusion: The findings of the study show that migrant seasonal agricultural workers in Turkey have insufficient working conditions, wages, accommodation facilities, nutrition opportunities, health conditions, and occupational health and safety conditions. This insufficiency negatively affects life qualities of the workers, utilization of health-care services, and their occupational health status and safety.     

Influence of the porosity on the ²²²Rn exhalation rate of concrete

The composition of 23 concrete mixtures was varied in five separate series to evaluate the influence of porosity on the 222Rn exhalation rate. In each series, a range in porosities is obtained by varying (1) the amount of cement, (2) type of cement (Portland or blast furnace slag cement), (3) the amount of water at a fixed cement level, (4) addition of an air entraining agent, or (5) the amount of recycled aggregates. The porosities ranged from 1% to 16%. The 222Rn exhalation rate is normalized to the 22?Ra activity concentration and expressed as the 222Rn release factor to eliminate the effect of differences in 22?Ra activity concentrations among the various concrete mixtures. Since most 222Rn originates from the cement, a 222Rn release factor based on the amount of 22?Ra introduced by the cements appeared to be more adequate. Although the methods to attain the porosities in the concrete mixtures differ widely, this cement-related factor corresponds well with the capillary porosity of the mixtures. Since the water-to-cement ratio of the fresh paste is a good indicator of the capillary porosity, this is the guiding factor in the fabrication of concretes low in 222Rn exhalation. The lower the water-to-cement ratio, the less capillary pore area will be available from which 222Rn can emanate from the mineral matrix into the pore system. The good correlation between the cement-based 222Rn release factor and literature data on the internal capillary pore area support the results of this study.     

The Influence of Workers’ Health Status on Employers’ Decision-Making During Personnel Restructuring in a Typical Public Limited Enterprise in Slovenia

Objectives

Alongside individual indicators of job performance, even workers’ health status could be a criterion for selection. The mechanisms for health selection are a reduction of productivity in relation to illness or certain health behaviour. The aim of the study was to establish how indicators of workers’ health status, which are accessible to the employer, influence the employer’s decision-making on which workers to retain and which to dismiss during personnel restructuring in the enterprise.

Methods

Due to a planned closure of a plant, the observed company began personnel restructuring which included a strategic decrease in the number of employees and the relocation of workers within the company. Two nested case control studies were conducted. The cases were divided into two groups and defined as follows: employees who were relocated and employees whose employment contract was terminated.

Results

The results show that the disability category and long-time sick leave exert the greatest influence on the employer’s decision on the selection of workers. Workers with work-related disability have lower odds to be relocated to a new workplace (OR=0.5; 95% CI 0.2 to 1.1) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=6.51; 95% CI 3.33 to 12.72). The workers with a history of a long-time sick leave also have lower odds to be relocated (OR=0.31; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.88) and higher odds to be dismissed (OR=4.32; 95% CI 2.08 to 8.96).

Conclusions

Indicators of health which were accessible to the employer actually exerted influence on the employer’s decision-making, which could show a direct form of health selection.     

Insurers’ Influences on Attending Physicians of Workers Sick-listed for Common Mental Disorders: What Are the Impacts on Physicians’ Practices?

Purpose In many jurisdictions, general practitioners (GPs) play an important role in the sick-leave and return-to-work (RTW) process of individuals with common mental disorders (CMD). Since it is insurers that decide on workers’ eligibility for disability benefits, they can influence physicians’ ability to act. The nature of these influences remains little documented to date. The aim of this study was therefore to describe these influences and their impacts from the GPs’ perspective. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with GPs having a diversified clientele (n?=?13). The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed according to thematic analysis principles. Results The results indicated that the GPs recognized insurers as influencing their practices with patients on sick leave for CMDs. The documented influences were generally seen as constraints, but sometimes as enablers. The impacts of these influences on the GPs’ practices depended on the organizational characteristics of their work context (such as limited consultation time) and other characteristics of their practice setting (such as lack of timely access to consultations with specialists). Conclusion The results brought three major issues to light: the quality of the information sent to insurers by GPs, the respect shown (or not) for workers’ care preferences, and the relevance of the specialized services offered to support workers’ RTW. These issues in turn reveal potential risks for workers, risks that need to be identified and recognized by all parties concerned if we are to come up with possible solutions.     

Disentangling the Relative Influence of Schools and Neighborhoods on Adolescents’ Risk for Depressive Symptoms

Objectives. Although schools and neighborhoods influence health, little is known about their relative importance, or the influence of one context after the influence of the other has been taken into account. We simultaneously examined the influence of each setting on depression among adolescents.Methods. Analyzing data from wave 1 (1994–1995) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we used cross-classified multilevel modeling to examine between-level variation and individual-, school-, and neighborhood-level predictors of adolescent depressive symptoms. Also, we compared the results of our cross-classified multilevel models (CCMMs) with those of a multilevel model wherein either school or neighborhood was excluded.Results. In CCMMs, the school-level random effect was significant and more than 3 times the neighborhood-level random effect, even after individual-level characteristics had been taken into account. Individual-level indicators (e.g., race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status) were associated with depressive symptoms, but there was no association with either school- or neighborhood-level fixed effects. The between-level variance in depressive symptoms was driven largely by schools as opposed to neighborhoods.Conclusions. Schools appear to be more salient than neighborhoods in explaining variation in depressive symptoms. Future work incorporating cross-classified multilevel modeling is needed to understand the relative effects of schools and neighborhoods.Depression is one of the most serious public health problems among adolescents in the United States. Large epidemiological studies estimate that 12% of young people meet lifetime diagnostic criteria for major depression or dysthymia1 and that 29% of high school students report having felt sad or hopeless nearly every day during the preceding 2 weeks.2 Given that adolescent-onset depression is associated with many short- and long-term consequences, including suicidal thoughts and behaviors3,4; cigarette, alcohol, and drug use5–7; and recurrent episodes of depression in adulthood,8,9 there is an urgent need to understand the etiology of depression in adolescence.Interest in the social determinants of depression—or how features of the broader social context in which adolescents are embedded affect their risk for depression—has increased in the past decade. Neighborhood social environments have been primarily examined to date.10–14 Research in this area suggests that a neighborhood’s racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition and culture (e.g., levels of social cohesion, norms related to relationships between neighbors) are associated with individual mental health outcomes, even after individual-level factors have been taken into account. Although schools are gaining more interest from public health researchers,15,16 research on the role of schools in depression is lacking outside of a small number of studies. These studies, which have primarily focused on school connectedness and school socioeconomic status (SES), have shown that higher levels of each of these elements are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms among students.17–25 In addition, most school-related studies have focused on individual-level rather than multilevel associations.26–32Not only are schools understudied on their own, but their role in relation to neighborhoods is also poorly understood.33 Studies involving cross-classified multilevel modeling techniques, which explicitly allow researchers to disentangle the unique effects on health of multiple nonnested contexts (e.g., school and neighborhood environments),34,35 are rare. This is especially true for mental health outcomes. As a result, it remains unclear whether each context is important independent of the other and, if so, whether schools or neighborhoods are equally important determinants of adolescent depression or one context is more salient than the other.A case could be made for the importance of both schools and neighborhoods. Schools are likely to be important determinants of depression because they serve more than 95% of the nation’s young people for approximately 6 hours per day (or upward of 40% of students’ waking time during the school year) and at least 11 continuous years of their lives.36 Schools are also well-defined social institutions providing access to a range of supportive relationships that promote mental health.30,37,38 Neighborhoods, by contrast, may be important because they are the setting where unstructured social activity occurs outside of school and during the summer.39,40 Neighborhoods may also have a more direct influence on parents’ capacity to raise their children through shaping of community norms, supervision and monitoring, collective efficacy, and reductions in the burdens and stressors associated with caregiving.41,42Studies that examine the salience of schools relative to neighborhoods (and vice versa) are needed, given that schools and neighborhoods have increasingly become nonnested contexts in the United States. Indeed, a growing number of young people are attending schools outside of their neighborhoods as a result of the popularity of school choice (e.g., charter schools, federal vouchers to attend private school) and the desire to close low-performing schools.43,44 Thus, in the case of many young people, schools and neighborhoods are no longer hierarchically nested; for example, adolescents may attend non-neighborhood-based schools that have demographic features different from those of their neighborhood of residence.Our objective was to address these gaps in the literature by providing an understanding of the relative importance of neighborhoods and schools in levels of youth depressive symptoms. Specifically, we set out to determine the unique proportion of variance in depressive symptoms attributable to schools and neighborhoods (i.e., the random effects of each context) and examine the association between youth depression and sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., SES, race/ethnicity) at the individual, school, and neighborhood levels (i.e., fixed effects).     

Does the Incidence of Group Health Insurance Fall on Individual Workers?

Economic models predict that the cost of health insurance is borne by workers. In this paper we ask two questions. First, is cost shifting individual-specific: does a worker with higher expected medical expenses bear this cost? Second, how do explicit employee contributions affect cost shifting? We estimate wage change regressions that include as explanatory variables changes in health insurance coverage, changes in employee premium contributions, health status, and an interaction between health insurance changes and health status. We find no evidence of a significant wage offset at either the individual or group level and conclude that changes in health insurance status are not exogenous.     

Women's Experience in the Workers’ Compensation System

INTRODUCTION: Gender differences is a question of major importance within workers' compensation given the increased role of women in the workforce over the past several decades. This article reviews literature relating to women's experiences following work injury. METHODS: An Australian study is used as background to exploring the broad issue of the question of gender equity in workers' compensation. In doing so it takes account of historical, legal and medical issues. RESULTS: Women's experience in the workers' compensation system is different to that of men due to a range of factors. It is heavily influenced by the industrial environment in which they work. Women are paid less than men in many instances and work in gender-segregated circumstances, which often reduces their industrial bargaining power. Women also suffer different forms of injury and disease to men because of the different nature of their work. CONCLUSION: The Australian experience suggests that as a consequence of the combination of lesser industrial bargaining power, lower wages and differing forms of injury and disease women often receive less than men in compensation payments, struggle to obtain equity in the dispute resolution process and experience greater difficulties in returning to work following injury or disease.     

ONE Nano: NIEHS’s Strategic Initiative on the Health and Safety Effects of Engineered Nanomaterials

Background: The past decade has seen tremendous expansion in the production and application of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). The unique properties that make ENMs useful in the marketplace also make their interactions with biological systems difficult to anticipate and critically important to explore. Currently, little is known about the health effects of human exposure to these materials.Objectives: As part of its role in supporting the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has developed an integrated, strategic research program—“ONE Nano”—to increase our fundamental understanding of how ENMs interact with living systems, to develop predictive models for quantifying ENM exposure and assessing ENM health impacts, and to guide the design of second-generation ENMs to minimize adverse health effects.Discussion: The NIEHS’s research investments in ENM health and safety include extramural grants and grantee consortia, intramural research activities, and toxicological studies being conducted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP). These efforts have enhanced collaboration within the nanotechnology research community and produced toxicological profiles for selected ENMs, as well as improved methods and protocols for conducting in vitro and in vivo studies to assess ENM health effects.Conclusion: By drawing upon the strengths of the NIEHS’s intramural, extramural, and NTP programs and establishing productive partnerships with other institutes and agencies across the federal government, the NIEHS’s strategic ONE Nano program is working toward new advances to improve our understanding of the health impacts of engineered nanomaterials and support the goals of the National Nanotechnology Initiative.     

After the Affordable Care Act: the Effects of the Health Safety Net and the Medicaid Expansion on Latinxs’ Use of Behavioral Healthcare in the US

The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research - This study investigated the association between the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Latinxs’ use of behavioral...