Reaching "hard to reach" workers: Evaluating approaches to disseminate worker safety information via the Mexican consular network.

Mexican immigrants suffer a disproportionately large number of work-related injuries and deaths given their share of the workforce. Barriers of language, culture, and mistrust are often cited as factors that complicate efforts to reach these workers with occupational safety and health (OSH) interventions. By partnering with the Mexican government and its consulate network in the United States, researchers from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health were able to assess the impact of four different information dissemination approaches (posters, passively distributed brochures, actively distributed brochures, and video kiosks) in Spanish in a five-phase study. Exit interviews conducted with Mexicans seeking consular services indicated that while nearly all respondents considered OSH to be of importance, significant differences in impact measures, such as noticing the materials and liking of content, were found when comparing the different approaches. Despite these differences, even the least effective approaches were noticed by large numbers of individuals and significantly increased their stated behavioral intentions regarding OSH. Considering all materials together, significantly more participants reported liking the materials (p < 0.001) than did not, learning something new (p < 0.01), trusting the information (p < 0.05), intending to seek out additional OSH information (p < 0.01), and intending to speak to their bosses about OSH (p < 0.05). These findings contribute to building an evidence base for moving research knowledge into practice, which is an essential, but often overlooked, element of occupational safety and health research, particularly among workers from underserved communities.

Work experiences of Latino building cleaners: An exploratory study.

BACKGROUND: There are roughly 3.8 million cleaning workers in the United States. The cleaning workforce is largely composed of women, immigrants, and ethnic minorities who receive low wages and have low education levels. They are exposed to physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial hazards. METHODS: Qualitative methodology was used to investigate how Latino immigrants experience work as building cleaners. A grounded theory coding approach was used to analyze focus group data from 77 participants. RESULTS: Three major themes were identified: economic vulnerability, psychosocial stressors, and health and safety effects. Although workers are aware of the safety hazards associated with their jobs, they believe their immigration status limits employment opportunities leading them to accept poor working conditions. They work through injuries and cope psychologically through minimizing negative health impacts and normalizing work-related injuries and illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that interventions for these workers should recognize the hostile organizational and psychosocial contexts within which immigrants often work.

Evaluation of toolbox safety training in construction: The impact of narratives.

BACKGROUND: Construction is a dangerous industry with a large number of small businesses. Because they require minimal resources to deliver, toolbox talks may be an ideal training format for small construction contractors. METHODS: Eight toolbox talks were developed, each with two versions. One version of each toolbox talk was standard and one version included a narrative and discussion questions. Participants were randomly assigned to receive the standard or the narrative version. Pre- and post-intervention surveys measured demographics, workplace safety climate, and knowledge. The post-intervention survey also measured training impact. RESULTS: Including narratives with discussion questions significantly increased knowledge gain and led to increased training impact. Less experienced workers were more likely to gain knowledge and training impact compared to more experienced workers. There were no significant changes in workplace safety climate. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that including a narrative and discussion questions increases toolbox talk effectiveness.

Exploring workplace TB interventions with foreign-born Latino workers.

BACKGROUND: Persons born outside the United States are more likely to be diagnosed with tuberculosis disease (TB) than native-born individuals. Foreign-born Latinos at risk of TB may be difficult to reach with public health interventions due to cultural and institutional barriers. Workplaces employing large concentrations of foreign-born Latinos may be useful locations for TB interventions targeting this high-risk population. METHOD: This study used a two-phase approach to investigate the feasibility of workplace TB interventions. The first phase investigated employer knowledge of TB and receptiveness to allowing TB interventions in their businesses through 5 structured interviews. The second phase investigated foreign-born workers' knowledge of TB and their receptiveness to receiving TB interventions in their places of employment through 12 focus groups stratified by gender and education. RESULTS: Phase 1: Only 1 of the 5 employers interviewed had a high level of knowledge about TB, and three had no knowledge other than that TB was a disease that involved coughing. They were receptive to workplace TB interventions, but were concerned about lost productivity and customers finding out if an employee had TB. Phase 2: There was no observed differences in responses between gender and between the bottom two education groups, so the final analysis took place between a gender-combined lower education group and higher education group. The higher education group tended to have knowledge that was more accurate and to view TB as a disease associated with poverty. The lower education group tended to have more misconceptions about TB and more often expressed concern that their employers would not support worksite interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The results from both phases indicate that more TB education is needed among both foreign-born Latino workers and their employers. Obstacles to implementing workplace TB interventions include knowledge, potential productivity loss, employer liability, and perceived customer response.

Differences in safety training among smaller and larger construction firms with non-native workers: Evidence of overlapping vulnerabilities.

Collaborative efforts between the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) led to a report focusing on overlapping occupational vulnerabilities, specifically small construction businesses employing young, non-native workers. Following the report, an online survey was conducted by ASSE with construction business representatives focusing on training experiences of non-native workers. Results were grouped by business size (50 or fewer employees or more than 50 employees). Smaller businesses were less likely to employ a supervisor who speaks the same language as immigrant workers (p < .001). Non-native workers in small businesses received fewer hours of both initial safety training (p = .005) and monthly ongoing safety training (p = .042). Immigrant workers in smaller businesses were less likely to receive every type of safety training identified in the survey (including pre-work safety orientation [p < .001], job-specific training [p < .001], OSHA 10-hour training [p = .001], and federal/state required training [p < .001]). The results highlight some of the challenges a vulnerable worker population faces in a small business, and can be used to better focus intervention efforts. Among businesses represented in this sample, there are deflcits in the amount, frequency, and format of workplace safety and health training provided to non-native workers in smaller construction businesses compared to those in larger businesses. The types of training conducted for non-native workers in small business were less likely to take into account the language and literacy issues faced by these workers. The findings suggest the need for a targeted approach in providing occupational safety and health training to non-native workers employed by smaller construction businesses.

Firefighters as distributors of workplace safety and health information to small businesses.

BACKGROUND: Small businesses bear a large burden of injury and death, and are difficult to reach with occupational safety and health (OSH) information. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) developed a pilot study testing the feasibility of fire departments disseminating OSH information to small businesses during fire inspections. METHODS: Two sets of postcards were developed with unique, trackable URLs for the NIOSH Small Business Resource Guide. One set was distributed by firefighters, the other was mailed to small businesses. Participating inspectors were met with to discuss their experience. RESULTS: Neither distribution method resulted in a substantial number of site visits. Inspectors believed distributing postcards was an easy addition to their duties, and saw value in safety information. CONCLUSIONS: There are barriers beyond awareness of availability that prevent small business owners from seeking OSH information. Research should focus on identifying barriers and developing better OSH information diffusion mechanisms.