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

Abstract #117881

Marian Flum, ScD, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, 978-934-2534, Marian_Flum@uml.edu

This presentation focuses on worker participation in pollution prevention and other environmental planning and implementation, and the role this can play in not only reducing plant emissions, but also in improving the work environment. Worker participation is widely accepted as beneficial and even necessary in dealing with workplace health and safety issues. This form of participation is recognized by union contracts, by some employers, and by state legislation. Worker participation in environmental issues, however, is not nearly as well recognized. Examples of joint labor management environmental committees are rare, as are instances of links between occupational and environmental health at the plant level. In many cases chemicals that affect workers' health are also environmental hazards, yet they are often dealt with separately, since separate regulations and agencies cover occupational and environmental aspects. This presentation will report on qualitative research data from case studies at three different manufacturing plants in the US and Canada that involve workers in decision-making regarding environmental concerns. A graded typology, developed by the author for assessing levels of worker environmental participation, will be presented. This matrix will be used to compare data from the three case studies. The matrix is a tool that can be widely used to evaluate and implement worker environmental participation programs.

Learning Objectives: