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. 2020;31(2):791-809.
doi: 10.1353/hpu.2020.0061.

Documenting and Understanding Workplace Injuries Among Latino Day Laborers

Maria Eugenia Fernández-Esquer, Cecilia F Aguerre, Martha Ojeda, Louis D Brown, John S Atkinson, Jayson M Rhoton, Cristina Espinosa Da Silva, Pamela M Diamond

Documenting and Understanding Workplace Injuries Among Latino Day Laborers

Maria Eugenia Fernández-Esquer et al. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2020.

Abstract

Background: Latino day laborers face substantial injuries at work. We present a comprehensive assessment of their injury experience and explore the predictors of selfreported injuries.

Methods: Worker and injury characteristics were collected from 331 day laborers using an innnovative injury assessment tool. The odds of injury were estimated using a logistic regression.

Results: Participants were foreign-born, Spanish monolingual, and employed in construction. Sixty-seven individuals reported 88 past-year injuries, mostly involving the upper or lower extremities. Injuries were caused by moving heavy objects, falling, or being struck an object. Of the documented injuries, 24% were not reported at work due to fear of being fired; 64.4% resulted in missed workdays, 54.0% in temporary incapacitation, and 34.5% in permanent incapacitation. Being married significantly reduced the odds of reporting an injury.

Discussion: Better documentation can inform the development of better policy protections that ameliorate injuries experienced by Latino day laborers at the workplace.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Injury booklet.a Note: aInjury booklet consists of 15 pages; pages 1 and 2 are presented for content illustration purposes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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