Employer Provision of Personal Protective Equipment to Latino Workers in North Carolina Residential Construction

Abstract

Despite federal regulations requiring provision of personal protective equipment (PPE) without cost to workers in the United States, very little is known about whether immigrant Latino construction workers receive no-cost PPE from their employers, and the role that employer provision plays in regular use of PPE. This study used cross-sectional data from a community-based sample of 119 Latino construction workers in western North Carolina to document receipt of employer-provided PPE by construction workers, investigate sources of variation in the receipt of employer-paid PPE, and delineate associations of employer-paid PPE with workers' regular use of PPE. The results suggest that the residential construction subsector generally fails to provide workers with PPE at no cost, as is required by regulation. Analyses also suggest that recent immigrants are least likely to receive no-cost, employer-provided PPE, and that when employers do provide no-cost PPE, Latino construction workers are more likely to use it regularly.