Occupational Health Disparities

408 Words2 Pages

Occupational health disparities exit on many jobs. Health disparities may be defined as differences in disease incidence, mental illness, or morbidity and mortality that exist among specific populations (CDC, 2012). The classification of vulnerability is determined by age, race, income, employment, etc. Immigrants fits the definition of being vulnerable because they are a racial minority, temporary workers and has cultural and language barriers. Their economical and political resource may put them at a disadvantage. Once employed, they may not report any unsafe practices due to the fear of losing their jobs or being deported. Sometimes they do not receive the appropriate training, they may not know their legal rights or they lack the education that will enable them to their job safely. This could be due to their level of education as well as language barriers. Another hinder to a safe working environment is that they may be discriminated against. …show more content…

A study was done to investigate occupational health in Urban Latino workers and the finding were an increase risk of occupational injuries with undesirable outcomes (Pransky, 2002). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistic death decreased from 2007 to 2008 for the Hispanic, but they remain at 4 deaths per 100,00 compared to blacks and 3.5 per 100,000 compared to whites (Population Reference Bureau, n.d.). The occupational fatality rate has been the highest for Hispanic as opposed to all other groups for the last past 15