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

Abstract #117001

Sherry Baron, National Institute for Occupational Safety and health, 4676 Columbia Parkway R-10, Cincinnati, OH 45220, 513 458-7159, sbaron@cdc.gov and C. Eduardo Siqueira, MD, ScD, UMASS Lowell, Department of Work Environment, 1 University Ave., Kitson 200, Lowell, MA 01854.

Immigrant workers now make up 14 percent of the US workforce and accounted for about 50 percent of the net increase in the labor force during the second half of the 1990s. Although the majority of foreign-born workers are from Latin America (53 percent) others are Asian (25 percent) and European (14 percent). Between 1997 and 2001, the occupational fatality rate for all foreign-born workers was 20 percent higher and for Latin American foreign-born workers was 40% highly than for all workers. The cause of this disparity is, in large part, due to the disproportionate distribution of foreign-born workers in high-risk industries, such as construction, agriculture and manufacturing. However, a recent analysis found that Hispanic construction workers had an 80% greater fatality rate compared to non-Hispanic construction workers. In order to better develop evidence based recommendations for improved surveillance and interventions to address this problem, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the University of Massachusetts, Lowell held a conference in September, 2004 which brought together 200 researchers, immigrant workers, labor union and immigrant advocacy groups, industry representatives, and state and local public health workers. Together they developed recommendations for the improvement in research and surveillance of occupational injuries and illnesses and the development of effective intervention programs. The involvement and input of a diverse group of stakeholders facilitated the generation of meaningful and comprehensive recommendations. These conclusions and recommendation as well as the role of the diverse stakeholder in developing these recommendations will be presented.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session participants will be able to

• Identify the major safety and health issues for immigrant workers
• Identify the major stakeholder groups concerned with immigrant worker safety and health
• Assess the major recommendation for future surveillance and intervention research

Keywords: Immigrants, Workforce

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