Cargando…

COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan

OBJECTIVES: Fragmented industry and occupation surveillance data throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic has left public health practitioners and organizations with an insufficient understanding of high‐risk worker groups and the role of work in SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission. METHODS: We drew sequential probabil...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Laskaris, Zoey, Hirschtick, Jana L., Xie, Yanmei, McKane, Patricia, Fleischer, Nancy L.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9538823/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36151779
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23430
_version_ 1784803400550973440
author Laskaris, Zoey
Hirschtick, Jana L.
Xie, Yanmei
McKane, Patricia
Fleischer, Nancy L.
author_facet Laskaris, Zoey
Hirschtick, Jana L.
Xie, Yanmei
McKane, Patricia
Fleischer, Nancy L.
author_sort Laskaris, Zoey
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: Fragmented industry and occupation surveillance data throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic has left public health practitioners and organizations with an insufficient understanding of high‐risk worker groups and the role of work in SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission. METHODS: We drew sequential probability samples of noninstitutionalized adults (18+) in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System with COVID‐19 onset before November 16, 2020 (N = 237,468). Among the 6000 selected, 1839 completed a survey between June 23, 2020, and April 23, 2021. We compared in‐person work status, source of self‐reported SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure, and availability of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) by industry and occupation using weighted descriptive statistics and Rao‐Scott χ (2) tests. We identified industries with a disproportionate share of COVID‐19 infections by comparing our sample with the total share of employment by industry in Michigan using 2020 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. RESULTS: Employed respondents (n = 1244) were predominantly female (53.1%), aged 44 and under (54.4%), and non‐Hispanic White (64.0%). 30.4% of all employed respondents reported work as the source of their SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure and 78.8% were in‐person workers. Work‐related exposure was prevalent in Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (65.2%); Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (63.3%); and Food Manufacturing (57.5%). By occupation, work‐related exposure was highest among Protective Services (57.9%), Healthcare Support (56.5%), and Healthcare Practitioners (51.9%). Food Manufacturing; Nursing and Residential Care; and Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities were most likely to report having adequate PPE “never” or “rarely” (36.4%, 27.9%, and 26.7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Workplaces were a key source of self‐reported SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure among employed Michigan residents during the first year of the pandemic. To prevent transmission, there is an urgent need in public health surveillance for the collection of industry and occupation data of people infected with COVID‐19, as well as for future airborne infectious diseases for which we have little understanding of risk factors.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9538823
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher John Wiley and Sons Inc.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95388232022-10-11 COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan Laskaris, Zoey Hirschtick, Jana L. Xie, Yanmei McKane, Patricia Fleischer, Nancy L. Am J Ind Med Research Articles OBJECTIVES: Fragmented industry and occupation surveillance data throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic has left public health practitioners and organizations with an insufficient understanding of high‐risk worker groups and the role of work in SARS‐CoV‐2 transmission. METHODS: We drew sequential probability samples of noninstitutionalized adults (18+) in the Michigan Disease Surveillance System with COVID‐19 onset before November 16, 2020 (N = 237,468). Among the 6000 selected, 1839 completed a survey between June 23, 2020, and April 23, 2021. We compared in‐person work status, source of self‐reported SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure, and availability of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) by industry and occupation using weighted descriptive statistics and Rao‐Scott χ (2) tests. We identified industries with a disproportionate share of COVID‐19 infections by comparing our sample with the total share of employment by industry in Michigan using 2020 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. RESULTS: Employed respondents (n = 1244) were predominantly female (53.1%), aged 44 and under (54.4%), and non‐Hispanic White (64.0%). 30.4% of all employed respondents reported work as the source of their SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure and 78.8% were in‐person workers. Work‐related exposure was prevalent in Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (65.2%); Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities (63.3%); and Food Manufacturing (57.5%). By occupation, work‐related exposure was highest among Protective Services (57.9%), Healthcare Support (56.5%), and Healthcare Practitioners (51.9%). Food Manufacturing; Nursing and Residential Care; and Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities were most likely to report having adequate PPE “never” or “rarely” (36.4%, 27.9%, and 26.7%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Workplaces were a key source of self‐reported SARS‐CoV‐2 exposure among employed Michigan residents during the first year of the pandemic. To prevent transmission, there is an urgent need in public health surveillance for the collection of industry and occupation data of people infected with COVID‐19, as well as for future airborne infectious diseases for which we have little understanding of risk factors. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-09-24 /pmc/articles/PMC9538823/ /pubmed/36151779 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23430 Text en © 2022 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
Laskaris, Zoey
Hirschtick, Jana L.
Xie, Yanmei
McKane, Patricia
Fleischer, Nancy L.
COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan
title COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan
title_full COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan
title_fullStr COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan
title_full_unstemmed COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan
title_short COVID‐19 in the workplace: Self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in Michigan
title_sort covid‐19 in the workplace: self‐reported source of exposure and availability of personal protective equipment by industry and occupation in michigan
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9538823/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36151779
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajim.23430
work_keys_str_mv AT laskariszoey covid19intheworkplaceselfreportedsourceofexposureandavailabilityofpersonalprotectiveequipmentbyindustryandoccupationinmichigan
AT hirschtickjanal covid19intheworkplaceselfreportedsourceofexposureandavailabilityofpersonalprotectiveequipmentbyindustryandoccupationinmichigan
AT xieyanmei covid19intheworkplaceselfreportedsourceofexposureandavailabilityofpersonalprotectiveequipmentbyindustryandoccupationinmichigan
AT mckanepatricia covid19intheworkplaceselfreportedsourceofexposureandavailabilityofpersonalprotectiveequipmentbyindustryandoccupationinmichigan
AT fleischernancyl covid19intheworkplaceselfreportedsourceofexposureandavailabilityofpersonalprotectiveequipmentbyindustryandoccupationinmichigan