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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Publication Detail

Title: Work safety climate, musculoskeletal discomfort, working while injured, and depression among migrant farmworkers in North Carolina.

Authors: Arcury, Thomas A; O'Hara, Heather; Grzywacz, Joseph G; Isom, Scott; Chen, Haiying; Quandt, Sara A

Published In Am J Public Health, (2012 May)

Abstract: This analysis described Latino migrant farmworkers' work safety climate and its association with musculoskeletal discomfort, working while injured or ill, and depressive symptoms.Data were from a cross-sectional survey of 300 farmworkers conducted in North Carolina in 2009. Generalized estimating equations models were used to investigate the association of work safety climate with health and safety outcomes.Farmworkers perceived their work safety climate to be poor. About 40% had elevated musculoskeletal discomfort, 5.0% had worked at least 1 day while injured or ill, and 27.9% had elevated depressive symptoms. The odds of elevated musculoskeletal discomfort were 12% lower and the odds of working while injured or ill were 15% lower with each 1-unit increase in the work safety climate. Work safety climate was not associated with depressive symptoms.Work safety climate was important for agricultural workers. Poor work safety climate was associated with health outcomes (musculoskeletal discomfort) and safety (working while injured or ill). Interventions to improve work safety climate in agriculture are needed, with these interventions being directed to employers and workers.

PubMed ID: 22401520 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Adult; Agricultural Workers' Diseases/ethnology*; Agricultural Workers' Diseases/psychology; Agriculture/statistics & numerical data; Comorbidity; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression/ethnology*; Depression/psychology; Female; Hispanic or Latino/statistics & numerical data*; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Musculoskeletal Diseases/ethnology*; Musculoskeletal Diseases/psychology; North Carolina/epidemiology; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Safety Management/statistics & numerical data*; Seasons; Transients and Migrants/psychology; Transients and Migrants/statistics & numerical data*; Workplace; Young Adult

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