Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Laura Podolsky, MPH candidate¹, Tomas A. Aguilar¹, and Linda Delp, MPH². (1) UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program, PO Box 951478, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1478, 310-794-5964, laurapod@ucla.edu, (2) Labor Occupational Safety & Health Program, University of California Los Angeles, Box 951478, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1478

In response to reports of horrendous working conditions for those involved in the Gulf Coast hurricane cleanup effort, the UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) and the National Day Laborers' Organizing Network (NDLON) undertook a joint project to investigate occupational health and safety issues particular to Latino immigrant day laborers in the region. As part of this unique collaborative effort funded by NIEHS, an organizer/researcher spent several weeks among Latino immigrant day laborers, interviewing more than fifty workers, observing worksites and investigating contracting arrangements. The workers faced a host of hazards, such as mold and chemical spills, yet most received neither health and safety training nor protective equipment. Respiratory, skin, and other health problems incurred in these dangerous worksites were exacerbated by unsanitary living conditions: some workers paid $300 a month to pitch a tent in a muddy field with no access to running water for bathing; others lived in crowded, molding rooms of the very hotels they had been hired to clean up. Most lacked access to medical services. Many reported wage violations and harassment from local authorities, including threats of deportation and denial of access to shelter facilities. This paper highlights the need for innovative training and collaboration with worker and immigrants' rights organizations to address the occupational health and safety issues of Latino immigrant day laborers in this complex and unique situation. It further discusses examples of such collaborations and how they could serve as a foundation for longer-term projects.

Learning Objectives:

• • Describe the particular hazards faced by day laborers engaged in hurricane cleanup
• • Discuss current efforts to improve the occupational health and safety of day laborers engaged in hurricane cleanup
• • Delineate collaborations between local, regional and national groups to offer training, equipment, and organizing support to day laborers engaged in hurricane cleanup.

Keywords: Occupational Safety, Community-Based Partnership

Related Web page: www.losh.ucla.edu

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation