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Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors

BACKGROUND: Janitors are a low‐wage, ethnically and linguistically diverse, hard‐to‐reach population of workers with a high burden of occupational injury and illness. METHODS: Data from an extensive multimodal (mail, phone, web) survey of janitors in Washington State were analyzed to characterize th...

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Autores principales: Anderson, Naomi J., Smith, Caroline K., Foley, Michael P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9300089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34897753
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23319
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author Anderson, Naomi J.
Smith, Caroline K.
Foley, Michael P.
author_facet Anderson, Naomi J.
Smith, Caroline K.
Foley, Michael P.
author_sort Anderson, Naomi J.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Janitors are a low‐wage, ethnically and linguistically diverse, hard‐to‐reach population of workers with a high burden of occupational injury and illness. METHODS: Data from an extensive multimodal (mail, phone, web) survey of janitors in Washington State were analyzed to characterize their working conditions and occupational health experiences. The survey included questions on demographics, work organization and tasks, health and safety topics, and discrimination and harassment. The survey was administered in eight languages. RESULTS: There were 620 complete interviews. The majority completed the survey by mail (62.6%), and in English (85.8%). More than half of responding janitors were female (56.9%), and the mean age was 45 years. Twenty percent reported having a (health‐care‐provider diagnosed) work‐related injury or illness (WRII) in the past twelve months. Women and janitors who were Latino had significantly higher relative risk of WRII. Increased risk was also associated with several work organization factors that may indicate poor working conditions, insufficient sleep, and possible depression. Half of injured janitors did not file workers' compensation (WC) claims. CONCLUSIONS: Janitors reported a high percentage of WRII, which exceeded previously published estimates from Washington State. Women and Latino janitors had significantly increased risk of WRII, and janitors' working conditions may influence the unequal distribution of risk. WRII surveillance via WC or medical care usage in janitors and other low‐wage occupations may reflect substantial underreporting. Characterizing the nature of janitors' work experience can help identify avenues for prevention, intervention, and policy changes to protect the health and safety of janitors.
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spelling pubmed-93000892022-07-21 Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors Anderson, Naomi J. Smith, Caroline K. Foley, Michael P. Am J Ind Med Research Articles BACKGROUND: Janitors are a low‐wage, ethnically and linguistically diverse, hard‐to‐reach population of workers with a high burden of occupational injury and illness. METHODS: Data from an extensive multimodal (mail, phone, web) survey of janitors in Washington State were analyzed to characterize their working conditions and occupational health experiences. The survey included questions on demographics, work organization and tasks, health and safety topics, and discrimination and harassment. The survey was administered in eight languages. RESULTS: There were 620 complete interviews. The majority completed the survey by mail (62.6%), and in English (85.8%). More than half of responding janitors were female (56.9%), and the mean age was 45 years. Twenty percent reported having a (health‐care‐provider diagnosed) work‐related injury or illness (WRII) in the past twelve months. Women and janitors who were Latino had significantly higher relative risk of WRII. Increased risk was also associated with several work organization factors that may indicate poor working conditions, insufficient sleep, and possible depression. Half of injured janitors did not file workers' compensation (WC) claims. CONCLUSIONS: Janitors reported a high percentage of WRII, which exceeded previously published estimates from Washington State. Women and Latino janitors had significantly increased risk of WRII, and janitors' working conditions may influence the unequal distribution of risk. WRII surveillance via WC or medical care usage in janitors and other low‐wage occupations may reflect substantial underreporting. Characterizing the nature of janitors' work experience can help identify avenues for prevention, intervention, and policy changes to protect the health and safety of janitors. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2021-12-13 2022-03 /pmc/articles/PMC9300089/ /pubmed/34897753 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23319 Text en © 2021 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Anderson, Naomi J.
Smith, Caroline K.
Foley, Michael P.
Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors
title Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors
title_full Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors
title_fullStr Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors
title_full_unstemmed Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors
title_short Work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: Results from a statewide survey of janitors
title_sort work‐related injury burden, workers' compensation claim filing, and barriers: results from a statewide survey of janitors
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9300089/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34897753
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23319
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