Putting Data to Work: 23 Health Indicators by Occupation and Industry: Findings from the Massachusetts Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2012–2013

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  Over three million Massachusetts residents are employed in thousands of workplaces throughout the Commonwealth. These workers drive our economy, from the cutting edge sectors of biotechnology and health care to traditional jobs in food services and construction. What these individuals working across a wide range of industries have in common is that work plays a central role in their lives. For full time workers, jobs fill close to half their waking hours - and for the 20% in Massachusetts who work overtime, a good deal more. Work is fundamental to well-being, providing not only income and often other economic benefits but also, for many, a sense of meaning as well as social support. Yet, at the same time, working conditions can negatively affect health. Every week, one to two Massachusetts workers are fatally injured at work. Furthermore, each year in Massachusetts close to 70,000 workers suffer injuries as a result of exposure to hazards in the workplace such as dangerous equipment, heavy lifting, toxic chemicals and violence. Chronic illnesses that result from exposure to toxic chemicals, chronic wear and tear and job stress also take a toll that is not reflected in these injury statistics. There is also increasing evidence that work organization factors such as shift work, long work hours, and jobs with high demand, low control and poor social support can indirectly affect health by influencing what are often referred to as personal health behaviors - such as eating habits, sleep, and leisure time exercise. Often neglected, as well, is how the organization of work can impact individuals' ability to manage their chronic health conditions like diabetes or asthma. Work organization factors can also contribute to family-work imbalance, which is another source of stress. Finally, leave and benefit schedules critically influence workers' access to healthcare as well as ability to care for children, elders, and other dependents. The burden of these occupational risks is not borne equally. It is widely recognized that low wage workers, including many immigrant and minority workers, are disproportionately employed in physically demanding, high risk jobs with high psychological stress - those that offer little opportunity to influence how or when they work. In short, work is an important determinant of health that needs to be taken into account in developing comprehensive public health approaches to improving population health and reducing health inequities. Yet, many of our state health data systems include limited, if any, information about the work status of individuals. To address this gap, Massachusetts is one of a number of states that has added questions about occupation and industry to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).a In this chart book, we present findings from the 2012-2013 Massachusetts BRFSS surveys on 23 key health indicators by occupation and industry groups. This information should be useful in targeting activities to both protect and promote the health of working people. In providing this information, we encourage readers to go beyond thinking about the workplace solely as a venue to address "personal health choices" and to consider the potential impact of work exposures and work organization on health and health related behaviors. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Healthcare Disparities Occupational Health Public Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System BRFSS Health Disparities Job Stress Occupations Public Health Worker Health Work Organization
• 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:
  1-64
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066437
• Citation:
  Boston, MA: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2016 Jan; :1-64
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2016
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts State Department of Public Health - Boston
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Putting data to work: 23 health indicators by occupation and Industry: findings from the Massachusetts Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2012-2013
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:05adcc21f7bdad8c9d64973d30aad52907e66f1b0fc976142c160c6eef0c6fe8e29600f6f9958bd46f4f436b6a86c0e5b8c7ce05d20e5e61635f8428bfcacaa8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/212865/cdc_212865_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 943.37 KB ]