“It’s Your Work, So You Have to Obey the Rules the Company Sets:” Health, Financial, Housing and Immigration Concerns of Texas Seafood Processors During COVID-19

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cherryhomes E ; Davis, Letitia ; Guillot-Wright S
• Description:
  Seafood processors are an essential and often invisible population who are at a higher risk of COVID-19 than the general population due to immigration status, precarious employment, and occupational hazards. Therefore, we conducted interviews with workers to understand how SARS-CoV-2 exposure was handled in seafood processing plants. Through qualitative research, we explored the occupational, social, cultural, political-economic, and mental health experiences of seafood workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the Texas Gulf Coast. To accomplish this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with seafood processors (n=16) and stakeholders (n=4) and discussed how they experienced COVID-19 prevention in their workplace. The data was coded in Atlas.ti and analyzed using an inductive approach. We were interested in understanding how one's social position in the workforce impacts COVID-19 rates and experiences. To our knowledge, we are the first team to conduct a qualitative study with Gulf Coast seafood processors during COVID-19. Our results show that the majority of seafood processors had elevated risks of financial and housing insecurity, health inequity, and immigration concerns during the second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of the presentation, attendees will 1) understand the unique occupational health inequities for immigrant populations, 2) examine the heightened occupational health risk factors for immigrant workers due to limited bargaining power, and 3) examine how occupational standards and lack of oversight create siloed workplaces that can increase exploitation and decrease workers' health and safety. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Emigration And Immigration Hunting Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Disease Prevention Fishing Industry Health Equity Immigrant Workers Qualitative Analysis
• Publisher:
  American Public Health Association
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069959
• Citation:
  150 Years of Creating the Healthiest Nation: Leading the Path Toward Equity. APHA 150th Annual Meeting and Exposition, November 6-9, 2022, Boston, Massachusetts and virtual event. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association, 2022 Nov; :514090
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20210901
• Source Full Name:
  150 Years of Creating the Healthiest Nation: Leading the Path Toward Equity. APHA 150th Annual Meeting and Exposition, November 6-9, 2022, Boston, Massachusetts and virtual event
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:611e94d0ad98def64b06485b0851e4084d18d889f93738da3971e9c2d4e4c56e65b577bc44a99dd78e93a46461ba06200dc06e42a5330f6c176fd9bf5ac6bc70
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208276/cdc_208276_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 144.90 KB ]