“When the Bills Keep On Coming:” The Experiences of Seafood Processors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Davis, Letitia ; Guillot-Wright S ; Porterfield L ; Wilson B
• Description:
  Essential workers were at increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, including seafood processors who are often rendered invisible within the public sphere. To examine the health and safety concerns of seafood processors, many who are low income or im/migrant workers on H-2B visas, our team conducted qualitative research with 44 participants. We found that in addition to high occupational health hazards that existed before the pandemic, COVID-19 increased workers' financial risks, which put them in more dangerous health and safety positions, since they needed to work through physical and mental health illness. These financial risks can be seen through the themes of paid sick leave, mental health, economic duress, and primary care access. We conclude with three recommendations to the H-2B visa worker program, which will not only decrease health disparities for im/migrant workers, but also increase health equity across seafood worker populations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Economics Emigration And Immigration Food-Processing Industry Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: COVID-19 COVID-19 Economic Consequences Economic Duress Food Processing Workers Mental Health Migrant Workers Occupational Safety And Health Paid Sick Leave Primary Care Access Qualitative Analysis Seafood Processors

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• ISSN:
  1059-924X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Dallas Region [OSHA] ; San Francisco Region [OSHA] ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  227-236
• Volume:
  30
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070746
• Citation:
  J Agromedicine 2025 Apr; 30(2):227-236
• Contact Point Address:
  Shannon Guillot-Wright, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1200 Pressler St., Houston, TX 77030, USA
• Email:
  Shannon.p.guillotwright@uth.tmc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2025
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20230901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Agromedicine
• End Date:
  20240831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9adad119863e0b5495caf4d216cd6cf498f797d6f019911f628628dc324dabde097e7a010bf84fe59595ce8f2092af1da709d1d2015207c04639e0f3112ed568
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208915/cdc_208915_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 781.25 KB ]