Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105210

Katherine J. Hall, MC, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Box 357234, Seattle, WA 98195, 206-685-6737, kjhall@u.washington.edu

Recent policy debates over occupational health issues – such as ergonomics – pit two sides with radically divergent viewpoints. Labor's viewpoint uses rhetoric about injury, suffering, and quality of life, while management's viewpoint concerns economic viability of companies and entire industries. We have conducted several content analyses of labor and trade publications, and of testimony at public hearings about a proposed ergonomics rule. We found that labor media attributed workplace injuries and illnesses to management practices or lax enforcement of governmental safety standards, while management attributed it to the actions or responsibilities of individual workers. Specialized publications for labor and management play an advocacy role in framing issues and mobilizing members for political action. In the context of a heated policy debate, both sides advocated political solutions, rather than technical or management solutions that might be found in occupational health and safety literature. As the nation becomes more polarized, content analysis can provide a means of analyzing social movements. In our analysis of hearing testimony, labor's voice seems to have been the loudest, and its position prevailed as both state and federal governments adopted ergonomics rules. However, the management position ultimately won out, as the adopted rules were overturned. Economic arguments were more persuasive in Congress – where political pressure can be applied to elected officials – and among fellow citizens through the initiative process, than they were in regulatory rule making.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn the value of content analysis as a public health research tool,
• Recognize how labor and management mobilize their members to influence public policy and frame the debate,
• Understand the implications for policy makers and health communicators

Keywords: Communication, Occupational Health

Related Web page: students.washington.edu/kjhall/safety+health/content_anal.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation