Wounding the Messenger: The New Economy Makes Occupational Health Indicators Too Good to Be True

Details

• Personal Author:
  Azaroff LS ; Levenstein C ; Wegman, David H.
• Description:
  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and workers' compensation insurers reported dramatic drops in rates of occupational injuries and illnesses during the 1990s. The authors argue that far-reaching changes in the 1980s and 1990s, including the rise of precarious employment, falling wages and opportunities, and the creation of a super-vulnerable population of immigrant workers, probably helped create this apparent trend by preventing employees from reporting some injuries and illnesses. Changes in the health care system, including loss of access to health care for growing numbers of workers and increased obstacles to the use of workers' compensation, compounded these effects by preventing the diagnosis and documentation of some occupational injuries and illnesses. Researchers should examine these forces more closely to better understand trends in occupational health. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Hazardous Substances Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Health-care Health-hazards Injuries Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Safety-measures Work-environment
• ISSN:
  0020-7314
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  271-303
• Volume:
  34
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028911
• Citation:
  Int J Health Serv 2004 Apr; 34(2):271-303
• Contact Point Address:
  Lenore S. Azaroff, ScD, University of Massachusetts Lowell Work Environment Department, One University Ave, Lowell, MA 01854
• Email:
  lenore_azaroff@uml.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2004
• Performing Organization:
  University of Lowell Research Foundation, Lowell, Massachusetts
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  International Journal of Health Services
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9e5e5281c42c45dc814bda27e4c189894583df88adab30983d7c3fdec4dd97731324f74fbca24ce46208ab37ee129998315f7ce03fded53398c6370e41311efd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190003/cdc_190003_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 707.54 KB ]