Risky Job Research Articles

Immigrants in Risky Occupations

This chapter reviews the economics literature on immigrant-native differentials in occupational risk. It begins by briefly explaining the theory of compensating wage differentials. It then provides a more detailed discussion of the empirical evidence on the subject, which reaches several conclusions. First, immigrants are overrepresented in occupations and industries with higher injury and fatality rates. Second, immigrants have higher work-related injury and fatality rates in some advanced economies, but not all. Finally, most, but not all, immigrants appear to earn risk premiums similar to natives for working in risky jobs. The chapter closes with a discussion of areas where additional research is needed.

Impact of Coastal Pollution on Childhood Disabilities and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: The Case of Bangladesh

Objective: The objective of this review was to explore the situation of coastal water pollution and its impact on child health and pregnancy outcomes in Bangladesh. Background: Globally coastal pollution is of greater significance than inland's for its huge resources and contribution to livelihood. As a result it has been a source of increased Global Burden of Disease by means of consumption of seafood, involvement in risky jobs, and exposure to water related disastrous events. Almost sixty percent of the world's population is at risk of costal contamination and developing countries like Bangladesh, geographically located at the tip of the Bay of Bengal, are facing significant challenges by this form of pollution. Method: This study was based on a critical review of published literature and unpublished documents from 1972 to 2011 retrieved from databases of scientific publications, from public-access search engines, reports from government, international organizations, and non-government agencies, and personal communications. Discussion: Huge noxious pollutants including heavy metals, oil spill and redionucleotides were found in the Bay of Bengal, those have enormous adverse impacts on child health and pregnancy outcomes. This review focuses on children and pregnant women because of their vulnerable physiological conditions to the impacts of environmental factors. The physiological systems of children and fetuses are developing fast and usually are sensitive to disruptions induced by environmental pollutants and exposures in utero increase the risk of future toxic insults. Conclusion: The coastal zone of Bangladesh is one of the vulnerable zones in the world which is predicted to disappear due to climate change impacts. This areas face huge weather-related disasters due to continuous changing coastal-configuration and man-made pollutions. However, these observations are indecisive due to limitations of supportive evidence. Therefore, further epidemiological studies are required to confirm initial observations.

S2 Occupational exposure, breathlessness and COPD in a general population of older UK men

Most COPD is attributable to smoking, however evidence from workforce and general population studies suggest that occupational exposure is also associated with the disease. This study examines the relationship between...

Work-related health problems among immigrant workers in Italy and Spain

ObjectivesIn both Spain and Italy the number of immigrants has strongly increased in the last 20 years, currently representing more than the 10% of workforce in each country. The segregation...

Comparison of ergonomic risk assessment outputs from rapid entire body assessment and quick exposure check in an engine oil company.

During the last decades, to assess the risk factors of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs), enormous observational methods have been developed. Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA) and Quick Exposure Check (QEC) are two general methods in this field. This study aimed to compare ergonomic risk assessment outputs from QEC and REBA in terms of agreement in distribution of postural loading scores based on analysis of working postures. This cross-sectional study was conducted in an engine oil company in which 40 jobs were studied. All jobs were observed by a trained occupational health practitioner. Job information was collected to ensure the completion of ergonomic risk assessment tools, including QEC, and REBA. The result revealed that there was a significant correlation between final scores (r=0.731) and the action levels (r =0.893) of two applied methods. Comparison between the action levels and final scores of two methods showed that there was no significant difference among working departments. Most of studied postures acquired low and moderate risk level in QEC assessment (low risk=20%, moderate risk=50% and High risk=30%) and in REBA assessment (low risk=15%, moderate risk=60% and high risk=25%). There is a significant correlation between two methods. They have a strong correlation in identifying risky jobs, and determining the potential risk for incidence of WMSDs. Therefore, there is possibility for researchers to apply interchangeably both methods, for postural risk assessment in appropriate working environments.

Occupational exposure assessment using antibody levels: exposure to avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses in the poultry industry

Avian leukosis/sarcoma viruses (ALSV) infect and cause cancers in chickens. Poultry workers are exposed to ALSV and other infectious agents in the workplace. This study examines if industrial hygiene assessment of antibody levels in poultry workers can identify risky job tasks at the higher exposure risk to an infectious agent, i.e., ALSV. We compared ALSV antibody levels in poultry workers and control subjects. Occupational and demographical factors were examined for an association with the exposure risk in poultry workers. We found that the antibody levels were significantly higher in poultry workers than in control subjects. Job category and age together were significantly associated with the antibody levels in workers. Certain job tasks were identified with significantly higher antibody levels as compared to others, implying that recommendations should be made to protect workers at these jobs. The findings of this study indicate that the measurement of antibody levels in workers can be useful for industrial hygiene assessment of exposure to infectious agents.

Factores asociados a síntomas depresivos en trabajadoras sexuales

Introducción: Las condiciones de trabajo y la violencia ejercida contra las trabajadoras sexuales han sido relacionadas con el incremento de las tasas de infecciones de transmisión sexual. Sin embargo, también se encuentran enfermedades que afectan su salud mental. Objetivos: Determinar la magnitud de síntomas depresivos y factores asociados en trabajadoras sexuales. Diseño: Estudio transversal-analítico. Lugar: Centro de salud referencial para la prevención y control de infecciones de transmisión sexual. Participantes: Trabajadoras sexuales. Intervenciones: A 117 trabajadoras sexuales, que fueron atendidas durante los meses de mayo y junio del 2010, se aplicó el test de Beck para medir la sintomatología depresiva y una encuesta para medir los siguientes factores: socio-demográficos, sociales (antecedentes de maltrato físico, psicológico y sexual en el trabajo y hábitos nocivos: alcohol y drogas), conductas sexuales de riesgo y características del trabajo (edad de inicio, años de trabajo, satisfacción con el trabajo). Principales medidas de resultados: Porcentaje de síntomas depresivos y fuerza de asociación entre los factores y la presencia de síntomas depresivos. Resultados: El 56,4% de las trabajadoras sexuales presentó algún nivel de sintomatología depresiva. El nivel de síntomas depresivos graves estuvo presente en 23,9%. Los factores que se encontraron asociados a depresión, independiente del nivel, fue el antecedente de maltrato físico frecuente, con OR=9,46, IC95% 1,05 a 85,07; p=0,045. Los factores asociados a nivel de síntomas depresivos graves fueron: ingreso económico menor a S/. 1 000.00, tener hijos, haberse iniciado en el trabajo sexual antes de los 18 años y consumo de drogas (p<0,05). Conclusiones: Más de 50% de trabajadoras presentó algún nivel de síntomas depresivos, que estuvieron asociados al antecedente de maltrato físico. Para el nivel síntomas depresivos graves, los factores asociados fueron: ingreso económico menor a S/. 1 000.00, tener hijos, haberse iniciado en el trabajo sexual antes de los 18 años y consumir drogas.

Hazardous agrochemicals, smoking, and farmers’ differences in wage-risk tradeoffs

This paper utilizes the theory of compensating differentials for job risks from the labor economics literature to evaluate farmers’ differences in wage-risk tradeoffs. In the context of job risks, the theory predicts that farmers who place a lower value on health status are willing to work for lower compensation on a risky job. The aim of the paper is to evaluate how the observed wage-risk tradeoff is affected by individual heterogeneity in risk preferences, by acknowledging variations in farmers’ revealed attitudes toward risk, both in job-related and non-job activities. The job risk measure employed is self-reported job risk of low back pain, the most recurring health risk faced by farmers. The job-related risky activity is the application of hazardous agrochemicals and the non-job activity is smoking. The study supports the finding that individual heterogeneity in risk attitudes is an important determinant of the risk premium workers receive, i.e., individual differences in other health-related activities are influential determinants of the observed wage-risk tradeoff.

MODELING OF INFLOW WELL PERFORMANCE OF MULTILATERAL WELLS: EMPLOYING THE CONCEPT OF WELL INTERFERENCE AND THE JOSHI'S EXPRESSION

The use of multilateral well is becoming an emerging method to improve oil recovery efficiently and to drain reservoirs more efficacious. By developing drilling technology, completing the oil wells as multilateral wells become more interesting especially from economic point of view. On the other hand, lack of any means for forecasting the performance of this type of wells causes drilling of them economically a risky job. The major objective of this work is to present a simple and effective means to estimate the performance of a multilateral well. In a simple approach to the multilateral well, one can consider it as several horizontal wells flowing into a common well string. By employing the concept of well interference and the Joshi's expression for horizontal well performance, a mathematical model for computing multilateral wells performance has been developed. Two correlations for estimating the multilateral well performance with odd and even branches have been presented by utilizing the concept of well interference in conjunction with a horizontal well performance expression. Consequently, the generated correlations along with the concept of equivalent length have been used in this work to present a general method for predicting a multilateral well performance. Also, economic analysis developed model for a multilateral well is presented in this paper.

Discount Rate for Health Benefits and the Value of Life in India

This study contributes to the literature by estimating discount rate for health benefits and value of statistical life of workers in India. The discount rate is imputed from wage‐risk trade‐offs in which workers decide whether to accept a risky job with higher wages. The estimated real discount rate varies across regions ranging 2.4–5.1 percent, which is closer to the financial market rate for the study period. The estimated value of a statistical life is Rs. 20 (US $ 1.107) million. The results thus provide no empirical support for utilizing a separate rate of discount for health benefits of life‐saving policies in developing countries like India.

The Riskiest Job in Medicine: Transplant Surgeons and Organ Procurement Travel

We read the paper ‘The Riskiest Job in Medicine: Transplant Surgeons and Organ Procurement Travel’ by M. J. Englesbe and R. M. Merion with interest, and we commend both authors for bringing to discussion this extremely important, although rarely debated, topic (1). Regarding the fatalities reported in Table 1 in their paper, we would like to make a correction. In point of fact, the crash reported in Brazil happened in the city of Chapeco (RS), instead of Florianopolis, when an aircraft attempted a forced landing during a storm, causing the deaths of five young surgeons and the two pilots. In addition, we regret to report that yet another tragedy occurred on April 16, 2007, in the city of Colatina (ES). In this accident, a helicopter crashed as a storm raged, killing three young urologists, a nurse and two pilots. Fully agreeing with the authors’ conclusion, we would like to suggest the implementation of the following measures, especially in countries requiring long-distance travel for organ harvesting:

Authors’ Response: The Riskiest Job in Medicine: Transplant Surgeons and Organ Procurement Travel

Authors’ Response: The Riskiest Job in Medicine: Transplant Surgeons and Organ Procurement Travel

Work, Risk and Health: Differences between Immigrants and Natives in Spain

We analyze the impact of working and contractual conditions, particularly exposure to job risks, on the probability of acquiring a disability. We postulate a model in which this impact is mediated by the choice of occupation, with a level of risk associated to it. We assume this choice is endogenous, and that it depends on preferences and opportunities in the labour market, both of which may differ between immigrants and natives. To test this hypothesis we use data from the Continuous Sample of Working Lives of the Spanish SS system. It contains individual, job and firm information of over a million workers, including a representative sample of immigrants. We find that risk exposure increases the probability of permanent disability by 5.3%; temporary employment also influences health. Migrant status – with differences among regions of origin – significantly affects both disability and the probability of being employed in a risky occupation. Most groups of immigrants work in riskier jobs, but have lower probability of becoming disabled. Nevertheless, our theoretical hypothesis that disability and risk are jointly determined is not valid for immigrants: i.e. for them working conditions is not a matter of choice in terms of health.

Layoff taxes and minimum wage: Two complementary public policies

In a matching model in which the job destruction rate and the output are endogenous, we show that the presence of a binding minimum wage prompts firms to choose too risky jobs. Introducing layoff taxes therefore reduces unemployment and improves market efficiency.

Subjective survival probabilities and life tables: an empirical analysis of cohort effects

This paper studies potential bias and heterogeneity in subjective survival probabilities. To analyze potential bias, average subjective survival probabilities from a representative survey of the Italian working-age population are compared to longitudinal predictions from cohort life tables constructed using a long sequence of cross-sectional life tables. Subjective beliefs for men are reasonably close to the longitudinal predictions from the life tables, whereas subjective probabilities for women are always lower than the life-table predictions. As for heterogeneity across individuals, subjective survival probabilities depend negatively on self-reported health problems, not being married, holding a risky job, and being unemployed, and depend positively on age and satisfaction with job security and stability. Somewhat surprisingly, education does not seem to matter, even after controlling for sample selection due to item nonresponse.

The Riskiest Job in Medicine: Transplant Surgeons and Organ Procurement Travel

Transplant surgeons are exposed to workplace risk due to the urgent nature of travel related to organ procurement. A retrospective cohort study was completed using data from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients and the National Transportation Safety Board. A web-based survey was administered to members of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons. The survey response rate was 38% (281/747). Involvement in > or =1 procurement-related travel accident was reported by 15% of respondents; surgeons reported 61 accidents and 11 fatalities. Air travel was used in 26% of procurements and was involved in 56% of accidents. The risk of fatality while traveling on an organ procurement flight was estimated to be 1000 times higher than scheduled commercial flight. Involvement in a 'near miss accident' was reported by 80.8%. Only 16% of respondents reported feeling 'very safe' while traveling. Procurement of organs by the geographically closest transplant center would have reduced the need for air travel (>100 nautical miles) for lung, heart, liver and pancreas procurement by 35%, 43%, 31% and 49%, respectively (p < 0.0001). These reductions were observed in each Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network region. Though these data have important limitations, they suggest that organ procurement travel is associated with significant risk. Improvements in organ procurement travel are needed.

Do immigrants work in riskier jobs?

Recent media and government reports suggest that immigrants are more likely to hold jobs with poor working conditions than U.S.-born workers, perhaps because immigrants work in jobs that "natives don't want." Despite this widespread view, earlier studies have not found immigrants to be in riskier jobs than natives. This study combines individual-level data from the 2003-2005 American Community Survey with Bureau of Labor Statistics data on work-related injuries and fatalities to take afresh look at whether foreign-born workers are employed in more dangerous jobs. The results indicate that immigrants are in fact more likely to work in risky jobs than U.S.-born workers, partly due to differences in average characteristics, such as immigrants' lower English-language ability and educational attainment.

Are Workers Sufficiently Compensated for Being in a Dangerous Job? Evidence from the European Labor Market

This article tests whether or not workers are indifferent between risky and safe jobs in labor market equilibrium as long as wages serve as a utility equalizing device. Using a partial measure of overall job satisfaction - satisfaction with the job related risk - it examines whether or not the wage differentials act as a utility equalizing device on only one job characteristic: the job risk. It uses selectivity corrected models. It turns out that it is important to adjust for selectivity. Results show that wage differentials do not exclusively compensate for workers being in dangerous jobs.

Do Immigrants Work in Riskier Jobs?

Do Immigrants Work in Riskier Jobs?

Self-selection bias in estimated wage premiums for earnings risk

This note develops a simple occupational choice model to examine three types of selection biases that may occur in empirically estimating the premium for uncertain wages. Individuals may select themselves into risky (wage-uncertain) jobs because they have (1) lower risk aversion, or (2) lower income risks, or (3) higher individual ability. We show that (1) gives no bias, (2) biases the OLS estimate of the risk-premium in a wage regression upward, and (3) yields a bias that analytically may be positive or negative, but empirically is more likely to be negative if our occupational choice model is correct.