Work Experiences of Latino Building Cleaners: An Exploratory Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Eggerth DE ; Flynn MA ; Keller BM ; Ortiz B
• Description:
  Background: There are roughly 3.8 million cleaning workers in the United States. The cleaning workforce is largely composed of women, immigrants, and ethnic minorities who receive low wages and have low education levels. They are exposed to physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial hazards. Methods: Qualitative methodology was used to investigate how Latino immigrants experience work as building cleaners. A grounded theory coding approach was used to analyze focus group data from 77 participants. Results: Three major themes were identified: economic vulnerability, psychosocial stressors, and health and safety effects. Although workers are aware of the safety hazards associated with their jobs, they believe their immigration status limits employment opportunities leading them to accept poor working conditions. They work through injuries and cope psychologically through minimizing negative health impacts and normalizing work-related injuries and illnesses. Conclusions: The findings suggest that interventions for these workers should recognize the hostile organizational and psychosocial contexts within which immigrants often work. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Chemistry
  • Economics
  • Emigration and Immigration
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Minority Health
  • Occupational Health
  • Race Factors
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Immigrant workers
  • Racial factors
  • Minority health
  • Workers
  • Work environment
  • Humans
  • Women
  • Exposure levels
  • Risk factors
  • Physiological effects
  More +
• ISSN:
  0271-3586
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  62
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20055891
• Citation:
  Am J Ind Med 2019 Jul; 62(7):600-608
• Contact Point Address:
  Brenna M. Keller MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1090 Tusculum Avenue, M/S C-10, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Email:
  Bkeller1@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Industrial Medicine
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213646/cdc_213646_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 511.85 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:21d8e844b13eb0eb3e35f08e806fd80d843d81035c97b7a9f9ea94a25cb95294f07b79220fd247b1975a99d587ae26b0216aa4decd8cbd43fd6da04c9f4988ec