New Solutions-A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy最新文献

The well-being of health care workers (HCWs) and the public in Ontario, Canada is at risk as the province's health care system is strained by neoliberal restructuring and an aging population. Deteriorating working conditions that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic further declined as the added challenges took their toll on the work force, physically and mentally. The pandemic-weary hospital staff, predominantly women, many racialized, are facing unprecedented challenges. They are experiencing stress, anxiety, and burnout from staffing shortages and the resulting increased workloads, long hours, and violence. Comprehensive telephone interviews were conducted with 26 HCWs from less highly paid occupations in a range of hospitals across the province. Thematic analysis reveals a critical need for policies and legislation ensuring increased funding, hospital capacity, and reduced wait times while providing HCWs with fair and equitable wages, increased staffing, mental health supports, greater respect and acknowledgment, and strong protections from violence and other workplace hazards.

This paper describes the work-related information collected in several important U.S. national health and behavior surveys, to highlight data gaps that prevent identifying responses by vulnerable workers in the gig economy, with emphasis on the growing digital platform sector of the work force. The national information systems used to understand health status and health behaviors, including drug use, rely on outdated census categories for self-employed workers. This paper describes the importance of understanding the needs of this growing part of the labor sector and describes how some of the most well-known and utilized national surveys fail to meet this need. For the agencies conducting national health and behavior surveys, we propose revisions to the categories used to classify type of worker and recommend adoption of a new Worker-Employer Relationship Classification model.

In 1987 Landrigan and Markowitz co-authored a report entitled "Occupational Disease in New York State." They found that death and illness from occupational disease were common and that the costs of exposure to hazardous conditions warranted public funding for new occupational health infrastructure in New York State. A recent confirmatory report recognized a wider spectrum of contemporary hazards and emphasized how public health problems connect to work. These reports provide factual snapshots at 2 points in time, but they do not explain nor analyze the changing conditions they describe. Including macro-contexts such as globalization, financialization, and neoliberalism, this article demonstrates several unique occupational safety and health implications by clarifying key themes related to the state's role, especially regulation and healthcare delivery systems. Conclusions directly tie the trajectory of occupational disease to workers' collective ability to confront and roll back neoliberalism while pushing occupational disease out of its medical/science silo.

Emergency medical service (EMS) personnel and firefighters (FFs) are first responders in dangerous and stressful situations. They experience high stress due to the nature of their jobs, which can affect their quality of life and various health dimensions. This study aimed to compare quality of life, job stress, and coping strategies in a sample of EMS personnel and FF employees in Iran. This cross-sectional study included 186 FFs and EMS, who were selected using a census sampling method. Our results showed that FFs had a better quality of life, lower perceived stress, and better coping skills than EMS. Individuals living in rural areas, government officials, and staff with regular work shifts also reported less perceived stress. Furthermore, our results indicated a negative and significant correlation between perceived stress and quality of life and a positive and significant correlation between stress management and quality of life in both groups. Given the inevitability of stress in EMS and FF jobs, policymakers need to take interventional measures to reduce anxiety and enhance the quality of life and work for these personnel. Occupational health policies in Iran generally follow the International Labor Organizational recommended standards, however, more attention to managerial interventions that reduce job demands and job stress combined with health promotion programs to improve coping are advised.

Workers' compensation systems aim to financially support injured workers. However, seeking compensation often leads to poorer physical and mental health outcomes. This review examines previous studies to investigate the relationship between workers' compensation and mental health and self-harm outcomes. A three-tiered search strategy across five databases identified studies that examined workers' compensation claims as an exposure or risk factor, with outcomes related to mental health, self-harm and suicidality. Nine full-text studies were included; however, heterogeneity limited generalizability. Most studies supported an association between pursuing compensation and poorer mental health and self-harm outcomes. Some studies attributed this to specific aspects of the system such as justice perception and navigation of the claims system. Findings suggest an association between workers' compensation and mental health or self-harm outcomes. Inconclusive findings highlight the need for further research. Understanding the psychiatric impacts of pursuing compensation is crucial to help formulate a more accessible compensation system.

The annual occupational doses for workers at the Ghana Research Reactor-1 facility were assessed for the period 2018-2021. The dose records of monitored staff were retrieved and analysis done for dose distribution and collective effective doses. Thermoluminiscent dosimeters were used to monitor the occupational exposures. The dosimeters were evaluated for the cumulative radiation dose levels using the Harshaw 6600 TLD reader system. Annual dose of 1.52 mSv/year was the maximum acquired by an individual. An annual average effective dose range of 0.20-1.36 mSv was determined for all workers. The annual total collective effective dose was established to be in the range of 0.40-10.08 man-Sv. The 20 mSv annual limit for occupational exposure was not exceeded for monitored workers. The assessment shows that the GHARR-1 facility, in terms of radiation health effects, is a favorable environment for workers since exposures are mostly below occupational exposure limit.