Research and Policy

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates a 30% increase in construction employment from 2010 to 2020. This means that there will be many new and young workers entering the construction industry. It is well established that these new and young workers are at greater risk of injury, as they enter this high hazard industry.…

Low-wage Asian and Latinx workers harbor significant health concerns related to COVID-19 but lack basic safety and wage protections and information while facing retaliation from employers and harassment from customers, according to a new report published by Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus in collaboration with the Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) at…

Janitors carry out physically demanding work in high-paced environments each day, and these demands have only increased with industry pressures and competitive bidding that result in cheaper cleaning contracts and reduced staff. In California, the union that represents janitors, SEIU-USWW, has raised concerns about the increased workload and resulting injuries their members have experienced since…

Green construction represents both our greatest opportunity in terms of mitigating climate change but also, because of the dangers inherent to high-hazard construction work, our greatest threat in terms of risk to workers. What we do at the nexus of green construction and occupational safety and health will set the standard for all green jobs.…

We’ve reached the 21st century and the world of work is changing at a startling pace. As many traditional jobs are being lost, the new economy is ushering in much-needed “green jobs.” This offers an unprecedented opportunity to guarantee from the start that these jobs are safe and healthy for both workers and communities. While…

This report summarizes findings from the evaluation conducted after the third year of California’s Heat Illness Prevention Campaign. It is divided into two sections. The first focuses on the process evaluation and the activitiescarried out in 2012, as part of the contract the Department of Industrial Relations negotiated with the University of California. The second…

This report describes initial results of a study of working conditions, health, and quality of life of hotel guest room attendants in the hospitality industry of Las Vegas. The hospitality industry has experienced a wave of restructuring, consolidation, and new practices to cut costs, including lean staffing and greater performance demands while constantly upgrading services…

IN the spring of 1998 the San Francisco-based Hotel Employees/Restaurant Employees Union (HERE) Local 2 began preparations for contract negotiations. For many years room cleaners had complained of high rates of injuries and musculoskeletal disorders. The union was aware that many had undergone surgery and several had become permanently disabled. Believing that these injuries could…

The U.S. construction industry has seen a dramatic increase in the number of Hispanic workers over the last two decades. From 1990 to 2000, Hispanic workers in construction doubled, from 700,000 to 1.5 million. Those numbers doubled again in less than 10 years, from 1.5 million in 2000 to 3 million in 2007. Although those…

Immigrant workers are more likely than other workers to have a fatal injury and are also more likely to get sick or injured on the job. In an effort to address this alarming trend, the Working Immigrant Safety and Health (WISH) Coalition was formed to develop strategies and recommendations to improve health and safety conditions…

This report responds to a January 2013 request for technical assistance by the Governor’s Interagency Taskforce on Refinery Safety. The report was first released by LOHP on March 27, 2013. This revision, released June 4, 2013, includes the views of the California Building and Construction Trades, as well as new information on the interim findings…

Approximately 4.5 million individuals in the United States have developmental disabilities (DD) such as mental retardation, autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and epilepsy. An estimated 30 percent of working-age adults in this population are employed, either in facility-based settings (“sheltered workshops”) or in the conventional labor market. Over the past several years,…

The University of California’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) andThe California Wellness Foundation recently provided funding to the Labor OccupationalHealth Program (LOHP) to examine job health and safety for young agricultural workers inCalifornia. The goals of the project were: These goals were accomplished through a literature review, student surveys, communitydiscussions, and employer interviews.…

These recommendations represent the general consensus of the California Partnership for Young Worker Health and Safety. They are presented here to share the results of discussions to date, and do not include full implementation or funding plans. Implementation may be initiated by organizations within or outside the Partnership. The Partnership acknowledges that all the agencies…

This report summarizes the information we collected, including the demographics of young workers in California, which laws and agencies protect them in the workplace, what opportunities exist in California’s educational system for increasing health and safety awareness, and what models exist for educating young workers about safety. The report also describes suggestions and insights that…