Today’s Presentation

•	  Overview of the Occupational 
     Health Surveillance Program 

•	 Occupational health disparities 
   among racial and ethnic groups in 
   Massachusetts

•	  Translating data to action

Occupational Health 
Surveillance Program*

•	 Tracks work-related injuries and 
    illnesses  in Massachusetts

•	 Uses this information to target 
   intervention and prevention activities

•	 Places special emphasis on reaching 
   underserved worker populations

Occupational Health 
Surveillance Activities

•	 Targeted surveillance systems for    
   reportable work-related conditions
     
•	 Fatal occupational injuries
•	 Work-related asthma
•	 Work-related injuries to teens
•	 Sharps injuries to hospital workers
•	 Hospitalized burns
•	 Adult lead poisoning

•	 Use of large population-based data
   sets  -  hospital data, cancer registry,  BRFSS, Youth  
     Health Survey, workers’ compensation data

Burden of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses in Massachusetts

•	 1-2 workers killed on job each week

•	 ~ 4 of every 100 workers 
      injured/made ill each year*

•	  Over 3,200 hospitalizations and  
    86,000 emergency department visits
    for work-related conditions each
    year* 
This burden is not born equally… What are occupational health disparities?

Differences in the incidence of work-related illnesses, and injuries that occur by  socioeconomic and demographic characteristics including  race, ethnicity, and
immigrant  status

The Massachusetts Workforce
3.2 million
•	  6% Black

•	  6% Hispanic

•	   6% Asian

•	   17% foreign born –
      up from 8% in 1980

Why do minority and immigrant workers experience disparities?
Minorities and immigrants are:

•	 More likely to work in dangerous jobs

Leading Occupations in Massachusetts by Race/Ethnicity 
Occupations of a Sample of 1400 MA
Community Health Center Patients by Race
Why do minority and immigrant workers experience disparities?
•	Dangerous jobs 

•	Racism
 
•	Long work hours/pressure

•	Low awareness of rights and resources

•	Burden of immigration status

•	Language barriers/literacy

•	Cultural differences
 
•	Poorer occupational health care
  Hispanic workers are at high risk of fatal occupational injury in Massachusetts
  Hispanic workers are over-represented in the MA Occupational Lead Registry*
	Health Effects

•	Hypertension
•	Cognitive dysfunction
•	Renal failure
•	Adverse reproductive outcomes
•	“Take home lead”
Minority workers experience higher rates of hospitalizations for some work-related injuries  

Likewise, awareness of OSHA was lowest among foreign born
What can we conclude about occupational health disparities ?
•	Data reveal disparities by race, ethnicity and immigrant status  in MA similar to findings in other studies

•	Critical to address the contribution of working conditions to racial and ethnic disparities in health

From Data to Action  -  Massachusetts FACE (Fatality Assessment Control and Evaluation) 
•	 Investigations of targeted deaths: Hispanic and immigrant worker deaths

•	Dissemination of alerts in relevant languages

•	Community task force
From Data to Action  -  Community Health Center Occupational Health Project
•	Build capacity of community health centers to identity and address occupational health needs of patients

•	Amend data collection systems to include occupational information

•	Train providers and staff

•	Build intranet resources for providers and patients. 

Thank You. 

www. Mass.gov/dph/ohsp