TY - JOUR T1 - Safety, Health, and Well-Being of Municipal Utility and Construction Workers JF - Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Y1 - 2014 A1 - Bodner, T. A1 - Kraner, M. A1 - Bradford, B. A1 - Hammer, L. A1 - Truxillo, D. KW - construction workers KW - health KW - injury KW - safety KW - utility workers KW - well-being KW - workplace stressors AB -

Objective: To provide a baseline description of psychosocial workplace stressors and supports along with safety, injury, health, and well-being indicators in a sample of utility and construction workers for a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health–funded Total Worker Health™ intervention study.Methods: Survey responses and health assessments were collected from a total of 349 employees in two municipal utility departments. Results: Participants demonstrated poor weight control and body mass index and provided reports of frequent poor health habits, injury, and pain. Although safety climate was good, less desirable levels of psychosocial workplace stressors and supports were observed. These stressors and supports were found to relate with many of the health, injury, and pain indicators. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the need for workplace interventions to promote and protect construction worker health and the importance of the psychosocial work environment.

VL - 56 L2 - eng CP - 7 ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Profile of Workplace Safety and Health in the United States Y1 - 2012 A1 - CIO AFL- KW - AFL-CIO KW - health KW - labor movement KW - organizing KW - representation KW - safety KW - unions AB -

Prepared by the AFL-CIO Safety and Health Department, this report breaks down workplace fatalities, injuries/illnesses, penalties, number of inspectors, years to inspect each workplace, and program, by state for 2010.

PB - AFL-CIO CY - Washington, DC L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/laborunions/74/ ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Coal Mine Safety Regulation in China and the USA JF - Journal of Contemporary Asia Y1 - 2009 A1 - Homer, A. W. KW - China KW - coal KW - coal mine KW - mine safety KW - mining KW - safety AB -


The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the USA are, by long measure, the world’s largest producers and consumers of coal. Coal production is inherently risky, and fatalities are unavoidable in these large coal economies. Both countries have developed complex systems of law to regulate coal mine safety. These systems share many attributes. Despite similarities between the separate systems of mining law, the PRC significantly trails the USA in terms of coal mine safety. Due to large disparity in economic development, it may be inappropriate to compare these two countries. However, the PRC’s mine safety record is significantly worse than that of other large producers who are similarly underdeveloped. It appears that the PRC has failed to effectively implement its mining safety laws. Several arguments have been made as to the cause of this failure, including lack of judicial review of agency actions, lack of meaningful trade unions, government corruption and geographical difficulties of controlling rural mines with a central government. This article explores similarities and differences between the coal economies of the USA and PRC, and introduces some of the arguments used to explain the gap in safety.

VL - 39 L2 - eng UR - http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~mli/Economies%205430-6430/Homer-Coal%20Mine%20regulation%20in%20China%20and%20USA.pdf CP - 3 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Experiments in Transforming the Global Workplace: Incentives for and Impediments to Improving Workplace Conditions in China JF - International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health Y1 - 2003 A1 - O’Rourke, D. A1 - Brown, G. D. KW - China KW - Corporate Codes of Conduct KW - health and safety KW - labor practices KW - multinationals KW - regulation KW - safety KW - worker representation KW - workers’ rights KW - workplace conditions KW - workplace protections AB -

This article highlights current economic conditions in China and analyzes existing obstacles to improving workplace conditions and labor practices. There are significant disincentives to strengthening workplace protections, and downward pressures are currently worsening conditions in a number of economic sectors. However, there are also potential strategies for motivating multinational corporations (MNCs) and Chinese government agencies to improve workplace conditions and to implement international and national laws and corporate codes of conduct. Four key principles are discussed that hold promise for creating incentives and sustainable mechanisms to improve factory conditions: transparency, verification, and accountability for MNCs and Chinese government agencies, and greatly strengthening worker participation.
 

VL - 9 L2 - eng UR - http://mhssn.igc.org/IJOEH_ORourke.pdf ER -