System Failure: Work Organization and Injury Outcomes among Latino Forest Workers

doi:10.1080/1059924X.2019.1567421

. 2019 Apr;24(2):186-196.

doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2019.1567421. Epub 2019 Feb 8.

System Failure: Work Organization and Injury Outcomes among Latino Forest Workers

Carl Wilmsen¹, A Butch de Castro², Diane Bush³, Marcy J Harrington⁴

Affiliations

¹ a Northwest Forest Worker Center , Albany , CA , USA.
² b Department of Psychosocial & Community Health , Occupational Health Nursing Program, University of Washington School of Nursing , Seattle , WA , USA.
³ c Labor Occupational Health Program, University of California , Berkeley , CA , USA.
⁴ d Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety And Health (PNASH) Center, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA.

PMID: 30734660
PMCID: PMC6476664
DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2019.1567421

System Failure: Work Organization and Injury Outcomes among Latino Forest Workers

Carl Wilmsen et al. J Agromedicine. 2019 Apr.

. 2019 Apr;24(2):186-196.

doi: 10.1080/1059924X.2019.1567421. Epub 2019 Feb 8.

Authors

Carl Wilmsen¹, A Butch de Castro², Diane Bush³, Marcy J Harrington⁴

Affiliations

¹ a Northwest Forest Worker Center , Albany , CA , USA.
² b Department of Psychosocial & Community Health , Occupational Health Nursing Program, University of Washington School of Nursing , Seattle , WA , USA.
³ c Labor Occupational Health Program, University of California , Berkeley , CA , USA.
⁴ d Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety And Health (PNASH) Center, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences , University of Washington , Seattle , WA , USA.

PMID: 30734660
PMCID: PMC6476664
DOI: 10.1080/1059924X.2019.1567421

Abstract

Objectives: Forestry services is a hazardous industry with high job-related injury, illness, and fatality rates. The Northwest workforce is largely Spanish-speaking, Latino, and immigrant, working in poor conditions with insufficient attention paid to safety and health. Institutional racism fundamentally shapes the structural vulnerability of Latino immigrant workers. Given this context, we sought to understand how workplace organizational factors and safety climate affect job-related injuries in this industry.

Methods: We developed 23 case studies from personal interviews after selecting from an initial participant survey pool of 99 Latino forest workers in southern Oregon who had been injured at work in the previous 2 years. Workers were recruited through snowball sampling and door-to-door canvassing. Questions spanned work conditions, tasks, employer safety practices, injury experience, medical treatment, and workers' compensation benefits.

Results: Workers reported broken bones, chainsaw lacerations, back pain, heat and pesticide illnesses, and other occupational injuries. One-third of the cases fell into a Systems Functional category in which they reported their injuries to their supervisors and received medical treatment and workers' compensation benefits. The remaining two-thirds experienced System Failures with difficulties in receiving medical treatment and/or workers' compensation benefits, employer direction to not report, being fired, or seeking alternative home remedies.

Conclusion: Workers employed by companies with more indicators of safety climate were more likely to obtain adequate treatment for their injuries and fully recover. Workers for whom interpretation at medical exams was provided by someone unaffiliated with their employers also reported better treatment and recovery outcomes.

Keywords: Latino immigrants; Work organization; forest workers; institutional racism; occupational safety and health; safety climate.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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References

1. Landsbergis PA, Grzywacz JG, LaMontagne AD. Work organization, job insecurity, and occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med 2014;57:495–515. doi:10.1002/ajim.22126. - DOI - PubMed
1. Krieger N, Chen JT, Waterman PD, et al. The inverse hazard law: blood pressure, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, workplace abuse and occupational exposures in U.S. low-income black, white and Latino workers. Soc Sci Med 2008;67(12):1970–1981. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.039. - DOI - PubMed
1. Gee GC, Ford CL. Structural racism and health inequities. Du Bois Rev 2011;8(1):115–132. doi:10.1017/S1742058X11000130. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Okechukwu CA, Souza K, Davis KD, de Castro AB. Discrimination, harassment, abuse, and bullying in the workplace: contribution of workplace injustice to occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med 2014;57:573–586. doi:10.1002/ajim.22221. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Wilmsen C, Bush D, Barton-Antonio D. Working in the shadows: safety and health in forestry services in southern Oregon. J For 2015;113(3):315–324. doi:10.5849/jof.13-076. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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[1] Landsbergis PA, Grzywacz JG, LaMontagne AD. Work organization, job insecurity, and occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med 2014;57:495–515. doi:10.1002/ajim.22126. - DOI - PubMed

[2] Landsbergis PA, Grzywacz JG, LaMontagne AD. Work organization, job insecurity, and occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med 2014;57:495–515. doi:10.1002/ajim.22126. - DOI - PubMed

[3] Krieger N, Chen JT, Waterman PD, et al. The inverse hazard law: blood pressure, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, workplace abuse and occupational exposures in U.S. low-income black, white and Latino workers. Soc Sci Med 2008;67(12):1970–1981. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.039. - DOI - PubMed

[4] Krieger N, Chen JT, Waterman PD, et al. The inverse hazard law: blood pressure, sexual harassment, racial discrimination, workplace abuse and occupational exposures in U.S. low-income black, white and Latino workers. Soc Sci Med 2008;67(12):1970–1981. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.039. - DOI - PubMed

[5] Gee GC, Ford CL. Structural racism and health inequities. Du Bois Rev 2011;8(1):115–132. doi:10.1017/S1742058X11000130. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[6] Gee GC, Ford CL. Structural racism and health inequities. Du Bois Rev 2011;8(1):115–132. doi:10.1017/S1742058X11000130. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[7] Okechukwu CA, Souza K, Davis KD, de Castro AB. Discrimination, harassment, abuse, and bullying in the workplace: contribution of workplace injustice to occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med 2014;57:573–586. doi:10.1002/ajim.22221. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[8] Okechukwu CA, Souza K, Davis KD, de Castro AB. Discrimination, harassment, abuse, and bullying in the workplace: contribution of workplace injustice to occupational health disparities. Am J Ind Med 2014;57:573–586. doi:10.1002/ajim.22221. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[9] Wilmsen C, Bush D, Barton-Antonio D. Working in the shadows: safety and health in forestry services in southern Oregon. J For 2015;113(3):315–324. doi:10.5849/jof.13-076. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[10] Wilmsen C, Bush D, Barton-Antonio D. Working in the shadows: safety and health in forestry services in southern Oregon. J For 2015;113(3):315–324. doi:10.5849/jof.13-076. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

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System Failure: Work Organization and Injury Outcomes among Latino Forest Workers

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System Failure: Work Organization and Injury Outcomes among Latino Forest Workers

Authors

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