Unprotected Workers Research Articles

Migration and financial transactions: factors influencing mobile remittance service usage in the pandemic

PurposeIn the global migration crisis COVID 19 had devastating consequences. Workers were confined to their locations due to travel restrictions and working from home became “working away from home” for millions of migrant workers. Mobile financial services emerged as key to livelihood of the mobile remittance recipients. It is essential for service providers to gain insights of users' motives to use mobile remittance services.Design/methodology/approachThis study proposed the model by extending unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model and integrating by perceived cost (PC) and perceived security (PS). Based on the survey data (n = 344) the proposed model was tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis.FindingsThe findings reveal that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, PC and PS affect the users' behavioral intention (BI) to use mobile remittance applications. Social influence nonsignificantly affects the BI and there is no significant influence of facilitating conditions on user behavior.Originality/valueThe volume of migrant workers preCOVID 19 reached 3.5% of the global population, the shear number of unprotected workers plunged into devastation by the COVID-19 impact is huge to cause an economic meltdown. Under the pandemic crisis conditions, the findings provide several practical implications on how service providers could improve their products and services to increase mobile remittance applications usage.

Municipal solid waste, an overlooked route of transmission for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2: a review.

Municipal solid waste could potentially transmit human pathogens during the collection, transport, handling, and disposal of waste. Workers and residents living in the vicinity of municipal solid waste collection or disposal sites are particularly susceptible, especially unprotected workers and waste pickers. Recent evidence suggests that municipal solid waste-mediated transmission can spread the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to humans. Such risks, however, have received little attention from public health authorities so far and may present an under-investigated transmission route for SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious agents during pandemics. In this review, we provide a retrospective analysis of the challenges, practices, and policies on municipal solid waste management during the current pandemic, and scrutinize the recent case reports on the municipal solid waste-mediated transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We found abrupt changes in quantity and composition of municipal solid wastes during the COVID-19. We detail pathways of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens carried on municipal solid wastes. We disclose evidence of pathogenic transmission by municipal solid waste to humans and animals. Assessments of current policies, gaps, and voluntary actions taken on municipal solid waste handling and disposal in the current pandemic are presented. We propose risk mitigation strategies and research priorities to alleviate the risk for humans and vectors exposed to municipal solid wastes.

PENGARUH COVID-19 TERHADAP PEKERJA, BURUH, DAN USAHA MIKRO DI KABUPATEN TANGERANG

Termination of employment, the impact on unemployment, difficulty finding work, the poor increase.Prediction of an increase in the number of poverty in Indonesia. The Corona Virus then appeared andgave so much influence in various sectors. One of the sectors that was affected and felt so much wasthe economic sector. This study aims to determine the effect of Covid-19 on Workers, Labor, andMicro Enterprises in Kab. Tangerang. This research uses descriptive qualitative method. In collectingdata using primary data, namely by using data collection techniques in-depth interviews, observation,and documentation. The Covid-19 pandemic not only has an impact on health, but also has an impacton the community's economy, especially informal workers who rely heavily on daily income. Based onthe results of the study, it can be concluded that the Pandemic can also have a disproportionateeconomic impact on certain segments of the population, which can exacerbate inequality that affectsmost groups of workers, such as: Workers who already have problems with health conditions, Youthwho are already facing unemployment and underemployment rates. higher unemployment, Olderworkers who may be at higher risk of serious health problems and likely to suffer from economicvulnerability, Women who are overrepresented in work who are on the front lines of dealing with thepandemic and who will bear a disproportionate burden of care responsibilities related to schoolclosures or care systems Unprotected workers, including self-employed, casual and performanceworkers who do not have access to paid or sick leave mechanisms and migrant workers who may notbe able to access the workplace m them in the destination country or return to their families.Uncertainty and difficulties in life make this vulnerable group need social safety nets, such as healthinsurance and social security. Through the provision of health insurance and social security, the livesof the most vulnerable people are protected, both in times of crisis and in times of crisis. With thissocial protection, vulnerable workers can live in healthy conditions and can still work to supportthemselves and their families in the future. Without health insurance and social security, the crisis dueto the Covid-19 pandemic will take away the hopes and lives of vulnerable groups

The Impact of the First Covid-19 Wave on Migrant Workers: The Case of Romanians in Italy

The Covid-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on health systems, on many economic sectors and on the labour market. This critical situation is also accompanied by social destabilisation, which has exacerbated inequalities and severely affected the most disadvantaged population groups, such as migrant workers. This study provides insights into the consequences of the first wave and the lockdown period in Spring 2020 of the Covid-19 pandemic on Romanians living in Italy, using data collected by the International Association Italy-Romania ‘Cuore Romeno’, within a project financed by the Romanian Department for Diaspora and developed to support actions while strengthening the link with Romanian institutions during the pandemic. Findings show that, during the lockdown, two opposite situations occurred among Romanians. Workers in the ‘key sector’ become indispensable and experienced only small changes, while others lost their job or experienced a worsening of working conditions, with lower wages or an increase in working hours. Most workers chose to stay in Italy, relying on their savings or the support of the Italian government. Job losses, not having new employment, and having limited savings all influenced the decision of a smaller group to return to Romania. In conclusion, the analysis suggests that measures adopted should take into consideration that the Covid-19 pandemic might disproportionally hit population groups such as migrants, women, young people and temporary and unprotected workers, particularly those employed in trade, hospitality and agriculture.

Importance of “the Social”: The Divergent Informal Careers of Chinese Internal Migrants

When investigating unregulated, unprotected work situations, the precarious work literature focuses on the degradation of work quality, whereas the informal sector literature emphasizes entrepreneurship and mobility. Neither of them, however, pays enough attention to how particular jobs are matched and how career paths evolve. Studying Chinese rural migrants’ informal careers, this research finds three strikingly different career paths. The “precariats” rely on peers to survive career disruptions, but the responsibility to support others leads to a new crisis. The “entrepreneurs” rely on their relatively resourceful families to start small businesses in a highly competitive and precarious market. The “guild” relies on hometown networks to share career information and reduce competition. This research hence draws a more optimistic picture than the precarious work literature as upward career opportunities do exist. Nonetheless, the picture is not as optimistic as the informal sector literature suggests because these opportunities are socially yet unevenly distributed.

In vitro toxicity of fibrous glaucophane

The health hazard represented by the exposure to asbestos may also concern other minerals with asbestos-like crystal habit. One of these potentially hazardous minerals is fibrous glaucophane. Fibrous glaucophane is a major component of blueschist rocks of California (USA) currently mined for construction purposes. Dust generated by the excavation activities might potentially expose workers and the general public. The aim of this study was to determine whether fibrous glaucophane induces in vitro toxicity effects on lung cells by assessing the biological responses of cultured human pleural mesothelial cells (Met-5A) and THP-1 derived macrophages exposed for 24 h and 48 h to glaucophane fibres. Crocidolite asbestos was tested for comparison. The experimental configuration of the in vitro tests included a cell culture without fibres (i.e., control), cell cultures treated with 50 μg/mL (i.e., 15.6 μg/cm2) of crocidolite fibres and 25-50−100 μg/mL (i.e., 7.8−15.6–31.2 μg/cm2) of glaucophane fibres. Results showed that fibrous glaucophane may induce a decrease in cell viability and an increase in extra-cellular lactate dehydrogenase release in the tested cell cultures in a concentration dependent mode. Moreover, it was found that fibrous glaucophane has a potency to cause oxidative stress. The biological reactivity of fibrous glaucophane confirms that it is a toxic agent and, although it apparently induces lower toxic effects compared to crocidolite, exposure to this fibre may be responsible for the development of lung diseases in exposed unprotected workers and population.

Determinants of Occupational Health Problems of Industrial Workers in Coimbatore - Tamil Nadu

The problems of industrial workers is a matter of concern for the partners of industry, Research scholars, academicians, policy makers, planners, labor leaders, and social workers. Recently there has been a growing awareness of the existence, importance, and needs of the unprotected workers. The unprotected workers are, by definition, disadvantaged workers, the degree varies from section to section. There is a lot of research in the field of unprotected workers. But very few research has been carried out about the unprotected industrial workers belonging to engineering and foundry units, who form a sizeable proportion of the total labor force. There is an immediate need to focus on occupational safety for the formal/organized industrial workers. In India, occupational health safety has so far benefited, only for workers of the formal sector. Against this background, the current study attempted to know the Determinants of Occupational Health Problems of industrial workers in Coimbatore – Tamilnadu. The study found that the sample industrial workers appear to be suffering from occupational-related health problems has increased with an increase in their current age, and such likelihood is also noted as moderately higher among those who are in debt, but unexpectedly such suffering from health problems is also found to be higher among those who own assets.

Allocating COVID-19 State Aid Equitably – The Case of Denmark

Recently, individual states have decided to restrict COVID-19 financial aid measures to those who have paid taxes to said state thus generally excluding those who are working cash-in-hand/unreported employment, unemployed, students, or retired. This contribution assesses COVID-19 financial support packages with an emphasis on common state aid features targeting individuals with the intention to critically evaluate if, when, and how these measures discriminate against the socio-economic status of the recipient. The impact that COVID-19 has had on income-generating activities is especially harsh for unprotected workers and the most vulnerable groups in the informal economy. The preliminary results of this study indicate that impoverished and vulnerable groups such as immigrants, cash-in hand workers/unreported workers, unemployed, students, and pensioners are not only at risk of losing their sources of income due to the pandemic´s economic effects, but they are also excluded from receiving crucial financial aid. This illustrates that there is great need for a revision of national COVID-19 policies and budget allocations to ensure a more equitable protection of individuals.

Efficacy of calcium formate as a technological feed additive (preservative) for all animal species.

In 2014, the EFSA Panelon Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) issued an opinion on the safety and efficacy of calcium formate when used as a technological additive (preservative) for all animal species. Calcium formate was considered safe for all animal species at a maximum concentration of 10,000 mg formic acid equivalents/kg complete. Calcium formate was also considered safe for the consumer and the environment. The Panelalso concluded that calcium formate is non-irritant to skin but causes severe adverse effects in eyes. It is likely that handling the additive could result in skin reactions and in the production of respirable dust that could present a risk to unprotected workers. The Panelalso concluded that 'Data submitted do not provide convincing evidence of the efficacy of the additive when used as a preservative for compound feed or feed materials'. In the current opinion, additional data to demonstrate the efficacy of calcium formate as a preservative in feed for all animal species were assessed. The Panelconcluded that calcium formate has the potential to be efficacious as a preservative in feedingstuffs for all animal species at the proposed use level.

Platform Labor and In/Formality: Organization among Motorcycle Taxi Drivers in Bandung, Indonesia

AbstractThere is a growing consensus that emerging forms of flexibilized platform labor (e.g., Upwork, Uber) necessitate new forms of mobilization to resist exploitation, given workers’ atomization and lack of statutory rights. However, Euro‐American concerns about radical reductions in labor security are countered by workforces in the “near South,” where precarious, unprotected work has long been the norm. I explore incrementalist organization in motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers’ resistance to the flexible labor regime of Go‐Jek, an Indonesian ride‐hailing app. I examineojek pangkalan(older‐style informal‐sector drivers) and Himpunan Driver Bandung Raya (HDBR, a grassroots app‐based driver association) in the city of Bandung. Although antagonistic toward each other, ojek pangkalan and HDBR employ similar improvisatory strategies, notably micro‐territorial basecamps and grassroots social security, to establish claims to their working lives. Incrementalist strategies in Indonesia are thus highly flexible in helping workers manage precarity across formal and informal contexts. By examining organization repertoires among app‐based and older‐style ojek drivers, this paper contributes to discussions about how the precarity of platform labor is produced and managed in a global context.

The Disconnect Between Electrical Safety and Accident Prevention: Protecting Workers from Arc Flash and other Hazards

The electrical safety climate in the united states was different 20 years ago. Many companies did not have well-developed electrical safety programs and written electrical work procedures. Electrical workers were not trained in arc-flash hazards and were not provided with arc-flash personal protective equipment (PPE). Unprotected workers were expected to perform work on and near energized circuits and equipment. Currently, most companies have established electrical safety programs and provide arc-flash training and PPE to their employees. Yet electrical injuries still occur. Electrical injuries can be attributed to 1) wellintended electrical safety programs falling short in their implementation and/or 2) workers failing to recognize the severe injury potential in a situation perceived as a low-level hazard. This article addresses some reasons why electrical safety programs fail to protect workers. It also discusses the potential arc-flash hazards associated with low-magnitude fault currents, which are illustrated through calculations.

Carbon tetrachloride poses low risks for workers

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s latest chemical risk assessment finds little concern with the use of carbon tetrachloride, as long as workers wear personal protective equipment. The agency, however, did find inhalation risks associated with exposures to unprotected workers who do not handle the chemical directly but work in facilities where it is used. Carbon tetrachloride is one of the first 10 chemicals the EPA is evaluating under the 2016 revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act. The agency has released 7 of the draft assessments so far. All 10 assessments must be finalized by June. Carbon tetrachloride is used in manufacturing refrigerants, including hydrochlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and hydrofluoroolefins, as well as in processing agricultural products, chlorinated chemicals, and some solvents. The EPA classifies carbon tetrachloride as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.” The chemical also affects the central nervous system, liver, and kidneys, and it is a skin irritant. In

Protective Sexual Behaviors and Their Motives, in University Students in the Health Area

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancy (UP) are becoming a problem that affects significantly the younger segment of the population so, not only in the aspect of health, but in the development of its future life both emotional and school and work. Despite easy access to information, young people still have risky sexual practices. This research highlights protective practices with the aim of developing information and training tools that help them avoid risky behaviors that lead to dangerous situations in health and its future. It was a descriptive study with students who have recently entered of the Faculty of Medicine enrolled in school cycle in 2015 in the bachelor’s degree in Medicine and surgery, Nutrition and dietetics, and Rehabilitation programs who agreed to participate by letter of informed consent to respond to the Instrument for the Evaluation of Psychological Variables and Sexual Risk Behaviors. There were 221 participants, 166 in Medicine and surgery, 28 in Nutrition and dietetics, and 27 in Rehabilitation with an average of 18.6 years, 51% male and 49% female. A protective behavior was not having had sex with penetration (72.3%), due to wanting to have them with whom they are in love and to avoid STIs more frequently in female; another protective behavior was not having had oral sex with occasional partners or unprotected sex workers (15.4%); the reasons were to have wanted to use and that the couple asked him to use it, to avoid sexually transmitted infections because the couple’s sexual history is unknown. Regarding the likelihood of having sexual penetration (SP), participants who have not had it were found that: the men had less possibility to inquire about their partner’s sexual history, to reject the proposal to have SP and to refuse caresses in sensitive areas of the woman’s body; when asked about the likelihood of asking your partner to use a condom in their sexual relations, both men and women agreed that it would be quite likely that they would do so, more frequently in women. It concludes by emphasizing that prevention remains the cheapest, easiest, most reliable and safest tool against STIs and UP.

Using social reproduction theory to understand unfree labour

Most scholarship within social reproduction theory focuses on women’s paid and unpaid care and domestic work, typically within the global North. Rarely has social reproduction theory grappled with unfree labour in commodity supply chains, particularly in the global South. However, these labour relations also involve gendered power relations that cut across the productive and reproductive realms of the economy, which can be illuminated by social reproduction theory analysis. In this article, we reflect on how social reproduction theory can be used to make sense of unfree labour’s role in global supply chains, expanding its geographical scope and the forms of labour exploitation encompassed within it. Conceptually, we harness the insights of social reproduction theory, and Jeffrey Harrod and Robert W Cox’s work on ‘unprotected work’ in the global economy to examine how gendered power relations shape patterns of unfree labour. Empirically, we analyse interview and survey data collected among cocoa workers in Ghana through LeBaron’s Global Business of Forced Labour project. We argue that social reproduction theory can move global supply chain scholarship beyond its presently economistic emphasis on the productive sphere and can shed light into the overlaps between social oppression, economic exploitation, and social reproduction.

Adapting old methods for new trends

PDS 65: Exposure assessment: implications for epidemiology, Exhibition Hall (PDS), Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Background: There are an estimated two billion informal sector workers around the globe. There is a clear need to adapt existing methods for identifying occupational hazards to meet the needs of unregulated and unpredictable work environments where unprotected workers face substantial risk from numerous hazards. We designed and applied a method of deriving time-activity patterns using wearable cameras to characterize time-use and contemporaneous, continuous measures of personal inhalation exposure to size-specific particulate matter (PM) among workers at an informal electronic-waste (e-waste) recovery site. Methods: 142 workers at the Agbogbloshie e-waste site in Ghana wore a sampling backpack with a wearable camera and real-time particle monitor during 171 shifts. Images and PM2.5 measurements were collected each minute, along with self-reported recall of time-activity (30-minute resolution) using a diary. Collected images (N=35,588) were processed to identify activities using criteria established through worker interviews, observation and existing literature. Descriptive statistics were generated for activity types, frequency and, as proof of concept, to demonstrate the camera’s ability to detect predicted relationships between PM2.5 and e-waste tasks. A kappa statistic measured agreement between self-reported and image-based time-activity data. Results: Based on image-based time-activity patterns, workers primarily dismantle, sort/load, burn and transport e-waste materials for metal recovery with high variability in activity duration. The overall geometric mean (GM) of personal PM2.5 on-site was 60.1 µg/m3 (SD: 2.1); PM2.5 was highest during burning, sorting/loading, and dismantling (GM: 90.4, 67.6, and 67.3 µg/m3 respectively). However, PM2.5 during long periods of non-work-related activities exceeded the World Health Organization 24-hour ambient PM2.5 guideline 75% of the time. Image-derived and self-reported time-activity had poor agreement (kappa = 0.17). Conclusions: Even in complex, non-formalized work environments, wearable cameras can improve occupational exposure assessments and identify activities associated with high exposures to workplace hazards by providing a transparent source of highly resolved time-activity data.

Inhalation Exposure and Respiratory Protection of Home Healthcare Workers Administering Aerosolized Medications (Simulation Study)

ABSTRACT There is little information regarding aerosol exposure from using medical nebulizers and the factors affecting the risk of exposure, especially for treatments performed in a patient’s home environment. Home healthcare workers (HHWs) are a rapidly growing work population often exposed to aerosol hazards. Thus, we designed a simulated environment to measure the aerosol inhalation exposure of an HHW administering pressure-nebulized medications. We determined the relative contributions of different factors to aerosol reduction, namely, the room air exchange rate, proximity to the patient, and patient breathing rate, in an exposure chamber simulating a patient’s bedroom. Additionally, the performance of respiratory protective devices worn by an HHW, a surgical mask and N95 filtering facepiece respirator (FFR), was evaluated using NaCl as a well-established surrogate. The particle concentration in the breathing zone of an unprotected worker ranged from 7,118 to 284,600 cm–3. The proximity to the aerosol source affected the aerosol concentration, but the influence of this factor diminished when the distance increased beyond 24 inches. For an unprotected HHW, ventilation was the most effective way to reduce exposure to nebulizer-produced medical aerosols. An increase in the air exchange rate from 0 to 5 h–1 significantly reduced the exposure; however, a further increase (to 17 h–1) produced only a small reduction in the particle concentration. Therefore, no evidence suggests that patient homes require extremely efficient ventilation to mitigate HHWs’ exposure to nebulizer-produced medications. Increasing the patient’s breathing flow rate reduced the aerosol inhalation exposure; however, this factor cannot be controlled, which weakens its practical viability. Wearing respiratory protection devices was found to be the most efficient way to reduce aerosol exposure (within the set of tested variables). As expected, an N95 FFR with a proper seal was about 20-fold more efficient than a surgical mask.

Work Place Related Issues in Health Sector: An Empirical Study With Reference To Selected Hospitals

The condition of working women in India as well as in the entire world in general is considered to be very distressing. Working women in general are subject to discrimination at various levels. The problems and difficulties of working women are multi-dimensional, varying from woman to woman at personal level, and section to section at general level and hence need to be analyzed in depth. There are very serious problems of wages, employment, income and standard of living and sexual harassment among working women. They are not able to get any advantage of social security schemes. Due to their ignorance and illiteracy they are not benefited from present welfare schemes. There has indeed been a growing realization that the women workers form an integral part of the process of national development. This has made the government make continuous effort to give women workers a better deal in spheres of work and to recognize their contribution to the socio-economic development of the Country. However, what has been done remains a drop in the ocean and the women worker remain exploited and unprotected working hours, conditions of work, wages, types of job and other situation is still not favorable to women workers. Women workers have many problems and problems of working women are more serious and server. The present study is an attempt to portray the work related issues in selected hospitals (i.e. GEMS, KIMS, RIMS, GMR).

Vaccination strategy for epidemic viral diseases in healthcare workers: Cut-off for optimal immunization.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at an increased risk of being exposed to epidemic viral diseases (EVDs), such as measles, rubella, mumps, and varicella-zoster. Currently, in case of the absence of written records on previous immunizations, the Japanese Society for Infection Prevention and Control guidelines require HCWs to have antibody titers higher than laboratory thresholds, possibly leading to over-immunization. We report our vaccination strategy and the consequent incidences of EVDs at the Osaka University Hospital between 2000 and 2016. In 2001, we initiated an annual serology check of antibody titers against EVDs and immunization for newly employed HCWs. As an additional vaccination program, all HCWs with low antibody titers were vaccinated in 2005 and 2010. Antibody titers were determined by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), with a positive range of >2.0 cut-off index. After implementing the vaccination strategy to keep the laboratory threshold, there were only sporadic cases of EVDs among HCWs. More than 99% of individuals who had positive titers in 2005 remained the positive antibody titers in 2010, indicating that a minimum interval of 5 years is enough to measure immunity. Unprotected workers can, even silently, transmit the contagious viruses to patients and coworkers, possibly resulting in a nosocomial outbreak. However, over-vaccination may yield adverse effects and financial burdens. Our observational data indicate that the laboratory cut-off index of >2.0 by EIA may provide a sufficient herd immunity to prevent EVDs among HCWs.

Partial employment protection and perceived job security: evidence from France

This paper assesses the causal effect of partial employment protection on workers’ subjective job security via the perceived probability of layoff. We consider the rise in the French Delalande tax, which is paid by private firms if they lay off older workers. This reform was restricted to large firms and therefore allows us to use a difference-in-differences strategy. In ECHP data, we find that the change in the perceived probability of layoffs induced by the higher Delalande tax improved the subjective job security of older (protected) workers, but at the cost of a negative externality on other workers. The changes in job security in both groups are of similar size, but as unprotected workers are the large majority of the sample, the population effect of the tax on layoffs was to reduce job security.

Assessment of Work Zone Safety

The increase in number of vehicles and deterioration of the existing facilities necessitates the need to improve the existing roadways and to build additional highways hence creating more work zones in cities around the globe. Two work zones one on a rural road and one on an urban road were studied to identify potential hazards in work zone and determine the most dangerous area of the work zone using risk concentration level. Confusing signs, use of dangerous devices for road closure, missing buffer, missing tapers, use of non-retro reflective devices, unprotected work area, dangerous flagging, missing safety alarms for heavy machineries, speed, aggressive driving and improper pedestrian access are the most dangerous hazards in work zone having a very high risk level. Transition area was found to be the most dangerous area of the work zone with a very high risk concentration level followed by working area with high risk concentration level, then advance warning area with medium risk concentration and finally termination area also with medium risk concentration. Proper installation and maintenance of temporary traffic control devices, use of safety attires by workers, fitting all moving machineries with safety alarms, use of retro reflective devices, protecting work activities, providing buffers for workers, and law enforcement will improve safety of the work zones.