Occupational hazards and injuries in Chicago temporary agency workers

Temporary help agencies are for-profit businesses that place workers with employers for short-term employment. Workers often labor under hazardous conditions with little training and little or no use of personal protective equipment. We interviewed 40 workers while they waited to be placed for work at temporary help agencies in Chicago. Our goal was to document the types of jobs workers were hired for, the workplace hazards they face, the nature and circumstances of workplace injuries, and whether workers were able to obtain treatment for their injuries. This presentation will present the results of these interviews. Descriptive statistics will include demographics, job titles and hazards. Descriptions of injuries and medical treatment will be presented in narrative form. To our knowledge there are no other published accounts of this type of information from temporary workers in the US. The presentation will include a discussion of ways to address injury prevention in this hard-to-reach population of workers.