Students Participate in Interdisciplinary Training: Policy Roundtables Op-Ed 1

During the 2016-2017 academic year, NWCOHS trainees participated in “Work & Health” policy roundtables organized through a collaboration between the West Coast Poverty Center, the Harry Bridges Centerfor Labor Studies, Center for the Study of Health in Public Policy, and the Northwest Center for Occupational Health & Safety.  These policy roundtables convened researchers, practitioners, and policymakers for informal discussions on how work, working conditions, and employment characteristics influence health, as well as the connections between health, productivity, and economic sustainability. The goals of these roundtables were to stimulate broad thinking and to create networks between academic and community leaders with interests in these arenas.  Three policy roundtables were conducted.

NWCOHS trainees were assigned to interdisciplinary teams (comprised of trainees representing programs in Construction Management Occupational Safety & Health, Industrial Hygiene (Exposure Sciences), Occupational Health at the Human Animal Interface, Occupational Health Nursing, Occupational Health Services Research, and Occupational Medicine) and wrote op-eds about the policy roundtable they attended. We will be sharing the op-eds in a series of posts! (author names have been removed for confidentiality).

Student Op-Ed 1

Roundtable Session: “Effects of Minimum Wage Policies on the Health of Workers”

Dr. Paul Leigh, an economist from the University of California, Davis, on November 9, 2016.

Dr. Paul Leigh

The impact of low wages may extend beyond an individual’s wallet. As an immediate impact, low-wage earners may have insufficient funds for healthy food, shelter, and healthcare. Long-term, low wages may result in low self-esteem, which in turn can have negative health effects. Low wages mitigate the price of lost work, thus reducing incentives to make healthy decisions and such avoid missed work. Despite this, low wages plague workers across several sectors.

For example, animal workers in the US may include agricultural workers (farm workers and workers in slaughterhouses or meat processing plants), animal control officers, veterinarians and their support staff, keepers and caretakers in zoos and aquariums, and even animal trainers in Hollywood. Nearly without exception, these workers suffer from low wages and inadequate benefits. The poverty rate for farm workers, including those in crop agriculture, is nearly double the national rate, and benefits are rarely provided.  Animal control workers, who are required to maintain licensure for their work, average under $17 per hour. Veterinary technicians earn less than half the wages of registered nurses ($31,070 versus $66,640). Zookeepers on average make $11.71 per hour, and animal trainers in the entertainment industry are often only paid while on set, “volunteering” their time to provide basic animal husbandry.

The pattern of wage reduction is not exclusive to agriculture and animal industries. US workers in manufacturing environments are prone to the negative health effects associated with low wages. The median hourly rate for a production worker ranges from $9-18 per hour, depending on the type industry and level of experience. Low wages have a negative effect on the psychological and physical   Workers who have low wages have lower job security and may move from job to job more often. This is a problem as unfamiliarity with a work process increases the risk of being injured on the job. The results of workers being in poorer physical health can lead to them getting behind on work, missing more days of work, and even losing their job, which can further increase disparities. Health of workers in manufacturing workplaces, which leads to decreased job performance as well as an increase in the number of on-the-job injuries. This results from employees engaging in unsafe work practices, such as taking shortcuts in processes to save time, not following safety rules or guidelines, having decreased judgement, as well as being distracted and disconnected from their work.

As a nation, we should broach this topic with empathy. Moreover, we need to consider our own personal professional experiences regarding what we value in a working environment. Would we feel comfortable sending our children to a low-wage job knowing the financial, safety, and health stresses imposed upon them? As occupational safety and health graduate students, we call upon US employers and policymakers to take a stronger stance on employment practices, which impact the financial stability and well-being of our workforce. Although our country’s businesses have become a highly charged political topic regarding their economic competitiveness on the world stage, lowering wages in order to remain relevant and profitable is not a sustainable or ethical solution. Moreover, it devalues our workforce’s contribution. All economic sectors, including the aforementioned manufacturing and agriculture industries, must consider the moral, financial, and sustainability benefits of wage increases.

Northwest Center Graduate Pursues First-of-its-kind Research on Health Risks among Marijuana Production Workers

"How did I get into marijuana research?", asks Max Chmielinski, a Northwest Center Exposure Sciences and Industrial Hygiene MS graduate who is now pursuing a PhD, "This is a story of being the lowest ranking employee."

"I was the UW intern working for the Washington State SHARP program during the 2015 summer. The same week I started, the marijuana growers association came to SHARP and asked for a site assessment. SHARP concluded that many exposures in this industry are different from any other industry. Exposures of interest included UV light, CO2, CO, inhalation of plant spores, and dermal exposure to plant oils. 

Since no one at SHARP could provide expertise across all exposures of concern, they gave the project to the intern. A literature review revealed that very little prior research has been performed on indoor UV light and chronic CO2 exposure. As a mechanical engineer, I was most familiar with UV radiation, and began to dig into this exposure. At the end of the summer, an exposure assessment on UVA, Broadband UV, and blue light was performed with SHARP.

Upon arrival back to school, I had a meeting with my preceptor, Dr. Edmund Seto, to discuss how to build my thesis. I presented him with my summer work. In 3 minutes he was on board and we began planning data analysis and further research into worker schedule and personal protection equipment." 

Little is documented for UV exposure to ‘grow’ lights used by indoor farms as well as the cannabis industry. The purpose of Max's thesis was to characterize UV light exposure for the eye in nursery and grow rooms in two medical cannabis production facilities using area and personal sampling.

Max assessed three different light spectrums: UV-Broadband (180 to 400 nm), UVA (315 to 400 nm) and visible light (400 to 700 nm). Area surveys were accomplished by consecutively mounting spectral sensors on a tripod at a fixed height of 1.6 meters and taking instantaneous measurements throughout the facility. In grow rooms, the tripod was systematically moved between 32 to 36 locations; in nurseries samples were taken from 4 to 6 locations. 

Personal sampling utilized sensors consecutively mounted on a helmet worn by the worker.  In each facility, one worker wore each sensor for 20 minute periods in the grow room. Occupational and nonprescription sunglasses' effectiveness were calculated by applying sunglasses reduction graphs, taken from manufacturer and previous literature, to exposure values. Because researchers did not have worker scheduling information, they investigated scheduling control via a scenario model.

Max and his fellow researchers found that in both area and personal sampling, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for UV Broadband exposure was exceeded.  

For area sampling in grow rooms, 12% of samples exceeded the UV Broadband TLV of 0.003 J/m2 in under 8 hours, and all area nursery room samples exceeded this TLV.  

Personal grow room sampling in the UV Broadband spectrum did not exceed the limit over a 20 minute sampling interval, but the worker would be projected to exceed the TLV in 446 minutes (less than an 8 hour shift).  

No sample from any facility or room type exceeded the ACGIH TLVs for UVA or visible light. Use of occupational sunglasses indicates exposure will not exceed the TLV in under 24 hours even if the highest measured exposure was constant, but it is unclear if use of some sunglasses models will allow under TLV exposures for 8-hours. 

The scenario model for worker scheduling indicates that scheduling control can be effective to reduce exposure, but it is based on weak assumptions due to limited personal sampling data.

Max concluded that additional assessment, particularly personal sampling, is needed to more fully characterize cannabis workers’ exposure to UV light.  Further research is needed to establish validated UV light sampling methods, to examine the effectiveness of protective equipment, and to establish employer best practices.

DEOHS was awarded SHIP grant with a proposal that was inspired by Max's MS thesis in June 2016. The grant will support the first half of his PhD work, where he will continue looking into occupational exposures in marijuana growing facilities.

Northwest Center Trainee is Studying the Occupational Health of Ugandan Livestock Farmers

Julianne Meisner is a veterinarian getting her MPH at the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and is an Occupational Health at the Human-AnimalInterface (OHHAI) Training Scholar. Her practicum rotation has her looking at the occupational health of livestock farmers in Uganda.

The OHHAI program supports a small number of funded scholars in the development of competencies for research and provision of preventive occupational health services to workers in a wide range of animal contact settings including research facilities, veterinary hospitals, zoos, and agriculture from a One Health perspective. OHHAI Scholars complete the requirements for the MPH in Environmental and Occupational Health as well as coursework in zoonotic infectious disease and One Health.

Julianne’s field work in Uganda during the summer of 2016 had two objectives: (1) to assist in ongoing sampling for the Neglected Zoonotic Diseases in Uganda Study, which Veterinarians Without Borders has been implementing for over two years, and (2) to develop and implement the Uganda Animal Worker Health Survey.

The Neglected Zoonotic Diseases in Uganda Study study gathers survey data on household practices relevant to zoonotic disease transmission and samples human household members and their animals (cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs) for neglected zoonoses.

“We (myself, the Center for One Health Research faculty and staff, and Dr. Thomas Graham of Veterinarians Without Borders) developed the Animal Worker Health Survey earlier this year, and this summer I implemented it alongside of the zoonotic disease survey” said Julianne.

“Livestock agriculture in Africa, like most of the world, is trending towards more intensified production systems and away from traditional systems. While there is an ongoing debate as to the costs and benefits of this change, little attention has been paid to the occupational risks associated with traditional livestock keeping systems.”

The Animal Worker Health Survey collects data on delegation of livestock-associated tasks within households, hygiene practices associated with livestock work, frequency and nature of exposure to potentially infectious material, animal-related injury history, and potential risk factors for injury such as the keeping of uncastrated (intact) male animals.

Not only is Julianne an impressive scholar, but she is also an outstanding photographer. When she isn't busy with her research she is taking beautiful photos of her travels, which she shares on her travel photography website, juliannemeisner.com!