Working in the Shadows: Safety and Health in Forestry Services in Southern Oregon

Details

• Personal Author:
  Barton-Antonio D ; Bush D ; Wilmsen C
• Description:
  We conducted a small participatory survey to document occupational injuries and illnesses, medical treatment, wage issues, and general working conditions among 150 forest workers in southern Oregon who are mostly Spanish-speaking immigrants from Latin America. We used snowball sampling in administering the survey. Survey results showed a high rate of job-related injury among the workers who responded to our survey. Results also suggested that many forestry services contractors licensed in Jackson and Josephine counties may not always follow labor laws. The vast majority of workers surveyed reported being fearful of retaliation for reporting injuries. There were no differences in reported working conditions and wage issues between workers with H-2B visas and other workers in the sample. This finding suggests that current US labor and health and safety laws are not effectively protecting Oregon's forest workers, owing to forest workers' structural vulnerability-their low positioning in social structures supported by immigration and economic status-compounded by fear of retaliation. Immigration policies and enforcement practices that contribute to creating a labor system with these inherent vulnerabilities and power imbalances need to be further examined and changed. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Emigration And Immigration Forestry Healthcare Disparities Occupational Health Safety Safety Management
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Forest Workers Forest Management Forestry Workers Health Disparities Immigrant Workers Injuries Labor Laws Occupational Safety And Health Policy Safety Monitoring Safety Research Socioeconomics Sociological Factors Transnationalism

  More +
• ISSN:
  0022-1201
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 9 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  315-324
• Volume:
  113
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053404
• Citation:
  J For 2015 May; 113(3):315-324
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20010930
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Forestry
• End Date:
  20270929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a478b5697db91a89a53e117e1b376f49a238de8e25cb0fbd5deea4374e7a29c5f42f1825b3a41493dcb029c28a0dde976fa2f71f5102f182c5ac12a55b3690e9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/216163/cdc_216163_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 158.54 KB ]