Local health department engagement with workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic-Examining barriers of and facilitators to outbreak investigation and mitigation

Tessa Bonney; Michael P Grant

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1116872

Local health department engagement with workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic-Examining barriers of and facilitators to outbreak investigation and mitigation

Front Public Health. 2023 Mar 17:11:1116872. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1116872. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Tessa Bonney¹, Michael P Grant²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
² Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, OH, United States.

Abstract

Objectives: To document local health department (LHD) COVID-19 prevention or mitigation activities at workplaces in the United States and identify facilitators for and barriers to these efforts.

Methods: We conducted a web-based, cross-sectional national probability survey of United States LHDs (n = 181 unweighted; n = 2,284 weighted) from January to March 2022, collecting information about worker complaints, surveillance, investigations, relationships and interactions with employers/businesses, and LHD capacity.

Results: Overall, 94% LHD respondents reported investigating workplace-linked COVID-19 cases; however, 47% reported insufficient capacity to effectively receive, investigate and respond to COVID-19-related workplace safety complaints. Prior relationships with jurisdiction employers and LHD personnel with formal occupational health and safety (OHS) training were predictors of proactive outreach to prevent COVID-19 spread in workplaces (p < 0.01 and p < 0.001). LHD size predicted OHS personnel and sufficient financial resources to support workplace investigation and mitigation activities (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Differences in LHD capacity to effectively respond to communicable disease spread in workplaces may exacerbate health disparities, especially between rural and urban settings. Improving LHD OHS capacity, especially in smaller jurisdictions, could facilitate effective prevention and mitigation of workplace communicable disease spread.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; occupational exposure; prevention; public health practice; workplace.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / epidemiology
COVID-19* / prevention & control
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control
Humans
Pandemics
United States / epidemiology
Workplace

Grants and funding

This product was developed with funding support through an intergovernmental personnel agreement with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of NIOSH.