The Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health at the University of Illinois Chicago planned, conducted and evaluated: Sweatshops in Chicago: A Conference on Workers' Voices. We had 150 participants and presenters at the conference held at the Illini Union on Friday, November 19, 1999. The conference provided a forum for participants to learn about the nature and extent of sweatshops in Chicago and the experiences of workers, including health and safety hazards, and to discuss action steps, resources and programs to direct workers to safe employment, to increase enforcement of workplace protections, and to eliminate the viability of sweatshop operation. Participants included occupational safety and health professionals, community based organization representatives, researchers, worker and union advocates, workers, and federal, local and legislative representatives and religious community members. I propose to present the process of planning, conducting and evaluating the conference. The planning committee composed of members from GLC, Rebekah Levin, Ph.D. of Taylor Institute and Robert Ginsburg, Ph.D. of the Center for Labor and Community Research. I will briefly describe the survey findings presented by Levin and Ginsburg at the conference, describe areas of work related hazards identified and materials developed to assess work-related hazards. The conference agenda, video tapes of conference presenters including Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH are available on the GLC website at www.uic.edu/sph/glakes/ce, choose course registration and scroll to the sweatshop conference. I will close with a summary of the evaluation of the conference and a discussion of future program initiatives and research.
Learning Objectives: Participants will define a sweatshop and list the key findings of the Chicago Sweatshop Working Group Survey. Participants will describe the process of developing conference programming related to the occupational health needs of sweatshop workers. Participants will describe assessment tools for sweatshop worker health and safety hazards
Keywords: Special Populations, Occupational Health Programs
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Associate Director of Continuing Education and Outreach