Characterizing Massachusetts Workers in Select COVID-19 Essential Services: Healthcare

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  Information in this data brief, and in the companion data brief on food stores and urban transit workers, could help policy makers and public health practitioners develop and target efforts to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) among workers and their communities, with the goal of reducing health inequities. Data on the nature of work (e.g., job duties), job-related benefits (e.g., health insurance), demographics, and the underlying health of Massachusetts workers across industries and occupations may be useful to assess the relationship between work and potential health impacts from the pandemic. Such data for COVID-19 cases will also be crucial but is not yet consistently available. As a first step in identifying potential inequities linked to work, we used existing data sources to examine select characteristics of healthcare personnel in Massachusetts. This is particularly important as healthcare is the largest industry in the state, employing more than 40% of all workers. Given the nature of the work, both with the possibility of close contact to COVID-19 patients and exposure to areas where COVID-19 patients are treated, healthcare personnel are at greater risk of exposure to coronavirus as compared to other occupations. The documented variance in availability of personal protective equipment increases that risk. Nationally, more than 9,000 cases of healthcare personnel with COVID-19 were documented by the CDC between February 12 and April 9, 2020, likely a severe undercount due to missing occupation information in a majority of cases reported, and a number that has likely grown exponentially. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Healthcare Disparities Health Personnel Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Public Health Safety
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Health Care Workers Health Disparities Infection Control Infectious Diseases Personal Protective Equipment PPE Public Health
• Publisher:
  Massachusetts Department of Public Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• 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:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066436
• Citation:
  Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2021 Feb; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2021
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health - Boston
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Characterizing Massachusetts workers in select COVID-19 essential services: healthcare
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f4d9146a12b339e871f11bebcbad52c6dd969810bbdaaf0989a074db4b47c0f4c998a05625115eb349855499aba55715078aa77a105574894cde096e980e9c7a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212864/cdc_212864_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 358.81 KB ]